Investigation of MXenes Oxidation Process during SPS Method Annealing

This paper discusses the effects of the environment and temperature of the Ti(3)C(2) (MXene) oxidation process. The MXene powders were annealed at temperatures of 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, and 1800 °C in argon and vacuum using a Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) furnace. The purpose of the applied annealing method was to determine the influence of a high heating rate on the MXene degradation scheme. Additionally, to determine the thermal stability of MXene during the sintering of SiC matrix composites, SiC–C–B–Ti(3)C(2) powder mixtures were also annealed. The process parameters were as follows: Temperatures of 1400 and 1600 °C, and pressure of 30 MPa in a vacuum. Observations of the microstructure showed that, due to annealing of the SiC–C–B–Ti(3)C(2) powder mixtures, porous particles are formed consisting of TiC, Ti(3)C(2)(sym), and amorphous carbon. The formation of porous particles is a transitional stage in the formation of disordered carbon structures.