Investigation of Production of Fine-grained SiAlON Ceramics from Nanopowders

Different sialons' compositions were used to find the effect of material starting components on sintering and properties of sialon materials. The nanopowders (Si(3)N(4), AlN, Al(2)O(3), Y(2)O(3) and Si(3)N(4)-27 wt.% AlN nanocomposite) were produced by the plasmachemical synthesis. The composite materials were sintered by the method of pressure-less sintering. Sintering temperature decreased significantly, if Si(3)N(4)-AlN nanocomposite was used as one of the components. The increased amount of alpha -sialon phase and higher hardness are characteristic for materials obtained from separate Si(3)N(4), AlN, Al(2)O(3), Y(2)O(3) nanocomponents.