Silicidation of Tantalum Carbide and Zirconium Carbide Powders in a Gaseous SiO Environment

Abstract

Tantalum carbide and zirconium carbide powders have been silicided in a gaseous SiO atmosphere at 1400°C. X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis results demonstrate that the silicidation products are Ta₅Si₃ and TaSi₂ in the case of TaC and ZrSi in the case of ZrC. The silicidation rate has been shown to influence the percentages of these silicides in the reaction products. The degree of silicidation reached in this study is about 20% in the case of TaC and about 16% in the case of ZrC.