1989 Volume 97 Issue 1127 Pages 721-727
Electro-conductive Si3N4 bonded ZrN ceramics with 15-30% porosity were produced by sintering green compacts of Si and ZrN powders in nitrogen gas atmosphere. Si and ZrN powders were mixed and molded using thermoplastic resin binder. The amount of ZrN was varied from 20 to 70vol%. The green bodies were dewaxed and sintered in the 0.88MPa nitrogen gas atmosphere. Si particles changed into Si3N4 and the Si3N4 connected ZrN particles in the green compacts. The dimensional change in sintering stage was under 0.2% for each sample. The ceramics containing 20vol% of ZrN showed electrical resistivity of 1×10-3Ω·m, bending strength of 370MPa and a thermal expansion coefficient of 3.4×10-6°C-1. A lower electrical resistivity of 9×10-6Ω·m was obtained when ZrN content was 70vol%, but its bending strength was decreased to 120MPa.
