Preparation and characterization of porous TiB₂ ceramic three-dimensional interconnected skeleton

Porous TiB₂ ceramics with a three-dimensional interconnected skeleton were fabricated by high temperature pressureless sintering from fine TiB₂ powder. The effects of initial density, sintering temperature and sintering time on porosity and strength were investigated. It has been shown that the strength, fracture toughness and pore size increase but the porosity decrease with the increase in sintering temperature. Due to the formation of a fine-grained microstructure with well-developed necks, an maximal strength up to 215 Mpa was achieved at a porosity of 85% and the maximal fracture toughness attained 3.5 MPa·m^1/2.