Improved mechanical and thermal properties of quasi-ductile metal-ceramic laminated composites produced from Ta foils and Ti3Al(Si)C2 filled preceramic paper

This paper describes the fabrication and properties of novel laminated metal-ceramic composites obtained from highly filled preceramic papers based on Ti₃Al(Si)C₂ (TAC) MAX-phase and Ta metal foils. Composites with different architectures were formed by stacking of preceramic papers and metal foils, followed by spark plasma sintering at 1150 °C and 50 MPa for 5 min. The obtained laminated materials were characterized by homogeneous microstructure of individual layers, high strength and quasi-ductile fracture behavior. A reaction layer of ∼7 μm in thickness consisting mainly of silicides and intermetallics is revealed. Thermal conductivity and diffusivity of laminated composites improved with increasing Ta/TAC ratio. Depending on the architecture, the bending strength of composites ranged from 480 to 650 MPa. Fracture toughness of the composites increased from 8.1 to 11.4 MPa × m^1/2 as the thickness ratio of Ta/TAC layers increased from 1/3 to 1/1. The toughening of the fabricated laminates is explained by the complex macroscale and microscale mechanisms discussed in the paper. The obtained results demonstrate that the superior mechanical properties and favorable thermal performance of the fabricated metal-ceramic composites make them promising candidates for advanced structural applications.