Titanium Silicon Carbide: a Ceramic or a Metal?

Titanium silicon carbide (Ti3SiC2) is a novel material that is attractive to both material scientists and physicists. The salient properties of this material include high melting point, high strength and modulus, high thermal and electrical conductivity, excellent high-temperature oxidation resistance, and machinability by both electrical discharge method and conventional cutting tools. These properties are believed to be strongly related to the structural properties and microstructure features, and we are intrigued to establish the relations between them. The purpose of this work is to understand: why Ti3SiC2 adopts the structure it has and how its physical properties are related to its crystal and electronic structure? The microstructure features and properties of the Ti3SiC2 prepared by the in-situ hot pressing/solid-liquid reaction method are also presented. The work demonstrated that Ti3SiC2 is a material that combines the merit of both metals and ceramics.