Fabrication of Si3N4/SiC nanocomposites toughened by in-situ formed low-dimensional nanostructures

We report the fabrication of Si3N4/SiC nano/nano-composite reinforced by single-crystal low-dimensional nanostructures via spark plasma sintering of nanocomposite powders containing in-situ formed Si3N4 nanowires/nanobelts. The fabricated nanocomposite is analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and selective area electron diffraction. The results show that the in-situ formed Si3N4 nanowires/nanobelts are uniformly distributed within the matrix. Such a nanocomposite could exhibit improved mechanical properties, due to the superior mechanical properties and uniform distribution of the nano-reinforcements.