Synthesis and formation mechanism of high‐purity Ti 3 AlC 2 powders by microwave sintering

High‐purity titanium aluminum carbide (Ti 3 AlC 2 ) powders were synthesized by a microwave sintering method using different titanium sources as raw materials. The prepared products were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that the synthesized Ti 3 AlC 2 powders have high purity (97.5%) and even distribution of the grain size when using a 3TiH 2 /1.2Al/2C mixture as raw materials when the microwave sintering temperature and time were 1300°C and 30 minutes, respectively. The formation mechanism of the Ti 3 AlC 2 is described as proceeding via four stages. The solid‐phase reaction between titanium and aluminum occurs below the melting point of aluminum and the main product is a Ti 3 Al phase, which is an observed intermediate compound for the formation of Ti 2 AlC and Ti 3 AlC 2 . Thus, this study provides a beneficial approach to low‐temperature synthesis of high‐purity Ti 3 AlC 2 materials.