Porous sandwich ceramic of layered silicon nitride-zirconia composite with various multilayered graphene content

The influence of the various content of the multilayered graphene (MLG) on the structural and mechanical properties of the final bulk porous silicon nitride-zirconia (Si3N4-ZrO2) based ceramics was investigated. The ceramic composites were prepared in the form of the laminated structure with different (5-30-5 wt% and 30-5-30 wt%) MLG content by hot isostatic pressing. Homogeneous distribution of the MLGs, a completed phase transition from α to β-Si3N4 in case of 5 wt% MLG have been observed. The structural examinations revealed that the multilayered graphene and zirconia particles owing to their different sizes and shapes influenced the porous microstructure evolution and the related mechanical properties of the composites. The sandwich structures enhanced the mechanical properties compared to reference ceramic with 30 wt% MLG. The position of the layer with higher graphene content, high ratio of α/β phase of Si3N4 and higher porosity had crucial effect on the final mechanical properties. •5 or 30 wt% MLG added porous Si3N4-ZrO2 composites were sintered by stacking alternative layers.•The mechanical test of 5-30-5 wt% MLG layers showed 2 or 3 times better properties than structure with 30-5-30 wt% MLG.•The main effect on mechanical properties had the layer with 30 wt% MLG having ∼ 66% porosity and high α /β-Si3N4 ratio.•The layer with 5 wt% MLG resulted friction coefficient ∼ 0.5 and with 30 wt% MLG ∼ 0.7 at scratch test at dry condition.