| Nanocrystalline carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides are studied today with the aim to develop hard but non-brittle materials. Carbides and nitrides are materials that have desirable properties for a variety of applications. Their key properties are high hardness and strength along with resistance to heat, corrosion and wear. The nonhydrolytic sol-gel process has been employed successfully for the preparation of the nanocomposites TiC/C and TiN/C in powder form. The paper presents the results of characterization of nanostructured TiC/C and TiN/C composites elaborated by sol-gel method. The phase composition and TiC and TiN crystallite sizes and lattice parameters have been determined by X-ray diffraction (PHILIPS X'PERT). The TiC/C and TiN/C powders were additionally characterized by means of microanalysis (wavelength dispersive and energy dispersive spectroscopies) using IBEX System Noran Instruments and Oxford ISIS 300, scanning electron microscopy (JEOL JSM 6100). |
full paper (pdf, 336 Kb)