A novel fabrication of Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/SiC composite via surface 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane tailored Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>

Fabrication of Al2O3/SiC composite has attracted much worldwide attention due to numerous advantages to compare with monolithic Al2O3, as improved bending strength and wear resistance, increased lifetime and inducing of self-crack-healing ability. As one of the conventional fabrication methods for Al2O3/SiC composites, through infiltration polycarbonsilane as SiC precursor in pre-sintered puros Al2O3 matrix and followed by thermal decomposition has been demonstrated. However, this method is limited because of two-step sintering process and high cost of polycarbosilane chemicals. The present work reports a novel approach to fabricate Al2O3/SiC composite by utilizing cost-effective 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as precursor of SiC, which is tailored on surface modified Al2O3. The moderate hydroxyl groups modified on Al2O3 surface by wet mechanochemical treatment are proved to be important to grafting organosilane on surface under continuous hydrolysis and condensation, which can convert into SiC after thermal pyrolysis. As a result, composite involving homogenous SiC particle distributed Al2O3 matrix is successfully fabricated.