Titanium carbide is an extremely hard refractory ceramic material that registers 9-9.5 on the Mohs scale. It has the appearance of fine black powder and has a face-centered cubic crystalline structure.
TiC can be used as a cermet or abrasive coating for metal parts, such as tool bits and watch mechanisms. It can also be etched with reactive-ion etching.
The process of synthesizing TiC begins with taking nano-TiO2 or carbon black as raw materials and utilizing the principle of carbothermal reduction. The process involves applying a high-frequency electrical field that converts microwave energy into heat energy by utilizing the dielectric loss of the material.
Using this method, a mixture of pigment-grade titanium dioxide powder and charcoal powder is mixed at a molar ratio of 1:3 or 1:4. The powder is then milled on a ball mill tank for 6-10 hours at a speed of 300-400r/min. Finally, a tablet press is used to form a 2cmx2cmx4cm block.
Afterwards, the material is placed into a graphite crucible and then into a high-frequency induction heating device that uses argon gas as a protective atmosphere to slowly adjust the current to 500A. Then, the product undergoes a carbothermal reduction reaction and is left for 20 minutes. This procedure can be repeated until the desired thickness of the resulting TiC is achieved.
