Manufacturing
Ready-to-press and sinterable silicon carbide (RTP SiC) granules
Overview
Ready-to-press silicon carbide (RTP SiC) granules is being produced using spray drying or spray freeze drying technique through an intermediate aqueous processing route. This method is capable of producing different size spherical shaped granules with narrow size distribution and free flow properties. As the granules are produced from uniformly dispersed aqueous slurries of SiC powder, hence wide range of additives can be accommodated in the formulation of the RTP granules. This process is beneficial to manufacture the feedstock for producing green SiC compacts with high density and defect free homogenous microstructure. The sintered products thus produced exhibit superior properties than conventionally produced SiC.
Key Features
- Cost effective technique to produce RTP SiC granules.
- Flexibility to incorporate either solid-state or liquid-phase sintering additives in the formulation of RTP granules.
- Control on granule size with narrow distribution
- The process can be adopted for manufacturing various oxide or non-oxide ceramics.
Potential Applications
- Feedstock for manufacturing of SiC components
Intellectual Property Development Indices (IPDI) 
- RTP granules processed in the laboratory scale
- Scaling up the process is in progress
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Major Patents / Publications
Major Patents
Major Publications
- P. Barick, B. P. Saha, S. V. Joshi and R. Mitra, Spray-freeze-dried nano-crystalline SiC containing granules: processing, compaction behaviour and sintering, J. Euro. Ceram. Soc., 36 (2016), 3863-3877
Dense silicon carbide (SiC) coatings by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) technique
Overview
Theoretically dense SiC processed by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) exhibits superior physical, mechanical, thermal and optical properties with excellent wear, abrasion and chemical corrosion resistance. The properties of CVD SiC coating can be tailored by control of various parameters including reactor design, process temperature, pressure, reactants composition and flow geometry. ARCI has established a CVD system for coating of large size components (up to 1.0 m meter) by thermal deposition of methyl-trichlorosilane (MTS) in excess of hydrogen. High density CVD SiC coating on various substrates with different geometries have been produced. It has been demonstrated that the CVD SiC coating can be polished up to the RMS surface roughness < 1 nm. ARCI also has the capability to produce self-standing CVD SiC parts.
Key Features
- State-of-the art CVD SiC coating facility.
- The processes technology has been established
- SiC coating on different size and shapes can be produced.
- CVD SiC coating can be polished to very high surface finish.
Potential Applications
- Reflectors for high energy laser and synchrotron radiation.
- Wear and corrosion resistant coatings
- Reflectors for concentrated solar power (CSP) applications
- Solar collectors and concentrators for astronomical telescopes.
Intellectual Property Development Indices (IPDI)
- Solar collectors and concentrators for astronomical telescopes.
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Major Patents / Publications
Major Patents
Major Publications
Large Scale Production of Cathode and Anode Electrode Materials by Cost-effective Process
Overview
Lithium ion batteries play an important role in the field of electric vehicle (EV) industries due to their high energy density and power density in comparison to other secondary batteries. As there is a great demand for large quantities of electrode materials for EV application, ARCI is working on development of nano-structured electrode materials in large scale by cost-effective processes. Amongst the electrode materials, LiFePO4 (cathode) and Li4Ti5O12 (anode) have promising chemistry for electric vehicle batteries due to their high energy density, structural and thermal stability. Both these materials have been successfully synthesized in large quantities and exhibit promising electrochemical performance compared to commercial electrode materials.
Key Features
- Large scale production of both anode and cathode materials.
- Simple, economic and scalable processing method.
- Performance of these materials as LIB electrodes are better than the commercial ones
Potential Applications
- High energy density cathode for electric vehicles
- High energy density and thermally stable anode for electric vehicles
- Other portable devices where LIB s are used.
Intellectual Property Development Indices (IPDI)
- Performance and stability are validated at laboratory scale
- Scale-up has been carried out successfully
- Prototype testing is under process using pilot plant facility.
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Alumina Based Cutting Tool Inserts by Spark Plasma Sintering
Overview
The addition of nanocrystalline ZrO2 and TiCN to ultrafine Al2O3 and their consolidation by spark plasma sintering (SPS) yields good microstructure and better mechanical properties which enhance the performance of cutting tools made from them. The distribution of the nanoparticles depends on their overall concentration leading to proper densification. Maximum hardness (21 GPa) and indentation toughness (5.5 MPa m1/2) was obtained with 23 vol% nanoparticles, which was considered as the optimum composition. Cutting tool inserts were developed by SPS with the optimized composition and their machining performance was compared with commercial alumina based inserts. Increased toughness in the nanocomposite inserts reflects in the machining performance as the tool life improves drastically compared to that of the commercial inserts at high cutting speeds ≥ 500 m/min.
Key Features
- Low processing temperature of 1150-1200°C
- Short processing times of 5-10 mins
- Full density achieved
- High hardness and indentation toughness in composites
- Increase in toughness manifests in increased tool life at high cutting speeds
- Tool life almost nine times higher than commercial inserts
Potential Applications
- Cutting tool inserts for machining hardened steels
Intellectual Property Development Indices (IPDI)
- Processing by SPS has been optimized in terms of mechanical properties
- Cutting performance evaluation at laboratory scale
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Major Patents / Publications
Major Publications
- Dibyendu Chakravarty, G. Sundararajan 33, 2597-2607, 2013, Journal of the European Ceramic Society