Processing of porous TiN/C ceramics from biological templates

A novel synthesis process, based on a sol infiltration and carbothermal reduction–nitridation of titania, has been developed for producing porous TiN/C ceramics from biological templates. During processing at 1400 °C under higher nitrogen pressure the biocarbon reacted with TiO 2 and N 2. The morphology and phase structure of the resulting materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction, respectively. The results show that the resulting TiN/C ceramics contained residual carbon, which remains covered by cubic phase TiN. The conversion process retains the microcellular morphology of the original pinewood tissue.