Grain size

Sintering

Engineering

Ball mill

Ceramic

Particle size

Composite material

Mineralogy

Chemistry

Metallurgy

Materials science

Hot pressing

Carbide

Grain growth

Carbothermic reaction

Chemical engineering

Relative density

Microstructure

Journal of the American Ceramic Society

Dense (Hf, Zr, Ti, Ta, Nb)C high‐entropy ceramics were produced by hot pressing (HP) of carbide powders synthesized by carbothermal reduction (CTR). The relative density increased from 95% to 99.3% as the HP temperature increased from 1750°C to 1900°C. Nominally phase pure ceramics with the rock salt structure had grain sizes ranging from 0.6 µm to 1.2 µm. The mixed carbide powders were synthesized by high‐energy ball milling (HEBM) followed by CTR at 1600°C, which resulted in an average particle size of ~100 nm and an oxygen content of 0.8 wt%. Low sintering temperature, high relative densities, and fine grain sizes were achieved through the use of synthesized powders. These are the first reported results for low‐temperature densification and fine microstructure of high‐entropy carbide ceramics.

Low‐temperature sintering of single‐phase, high‐entropy carbide ceramics