Investigation of the oxidation behavior of Ti3SiC2 with applicability as a nuclear fuel cladding

In this research, the oxidation resistance of pure Ti3</sub>SiC2</sub> MAX phase that produced via infiltration of porous TiC preform, fabricated by the gel casting process, was evaluated via oxidation at different temperature of 500, 800, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300 and 1400 o</sup>C under the oxygen atmosphere. The oxide phase composition on the surface of the samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. The thickness of the oxide layers on the surface was measured on the cross- section of the samples using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To investigate the oxidation mechanism, the TG and DSC thermal analyses were carried out in the range of 25-1500˚</sup>C. The results showed that the high weight gains were not occurred up to 1000˚</sup>C, and the oxidation procedure was accelerated for the temperature above 1000˚</sup>C. The oxidaton reached a steady- state above 1400˚</sup>C. The results of the oxide layers thickness measuements showed that by increaseing temperature to 1400˚C, the oxide layer thickness increased to 121 µm.