Impurity Effects on the Environmental Stability of Powder Processed Intermetallic Alumino-Silicide Compounds

The evolution of nearly dense stoichiometric silicide compacts via powder processing is presented in this paper. For specific single-phase Mo(Si,Al)2 compacts, room-temperature environmental degradation, phenomenologically similar to the pesting behavior of binary MoSi2 was observed. This degradation occurs over a series of a few months and results in grain boundary decohesion, which leads to crumbling of polycrystalline compacts in air at room temperature. Auger electron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy of the boundaries revealed the presence of an array of lens-shaped particles each comprised of silicon carbide and aluminum. The reaction of these phases with atmospheric species was accelerated by the presence of humidity. The trace presence of carbon was unavoidable due to the use graphite pressing dies. Alloying additions were made to tie up carbon by forming more stable carbides while maintaining the desired matrix phase stoichiometry. The pest phenomenon and alloying remedy were proven applicable to other silicide systems through experimentation and ThermoCalc modeling.