WANG Yajun ^{1, 2}, ZHANG Jin ^{1, 2}, YUE Xinyan ^{1, 2}, RU Hongqiang ^{1, 2}
(1. Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials Ministry of Education, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, Liaoning, China; 2. Institute of Advanced Ceramics, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, Liaoning, China)

Abstract: ZTA (zirconia toughened alumina) and TiC were used as raw materials to prepare TiC/ZTA conductive ceramic composites by using pressureless sintering. The effect of TiC slurry concentration on microstructure and properties of the TiC/ZTA conductive ceramic composites were studied. It is found that the pressureless-sintered sample contained α-Al₂O₃, t-ZrO₂, m-ZrO₂ and TiC. The TiC phase was distributed around the ZTA ceramic grains, forming TiC network. When the TiC slurry concentration was 15 wt.%, the TiC/ZTA conductive ceramic composites exhibited the highest comprehensive properties, with the volume density, open porosity, Vickers hardness, flexural strength, fracture toughness and electrical resistivity being 4.16 g∙cm⁻³, 0.22%, 16.4 GPa, 383.4 MPa, 6.28 MPa∙m^1/2 and 1.7×10⁻² Ω∙m, respectively.
Key words: conductive ceramic composites; pressureless sintering; microstructure; mechanical and electrical properties