High‐Pressure Sintering of Highly Dense Fine‐Grained Binderless Titanium Carbide Ceramics

ABSTRACT Titanium carbide (TiC) has exceptional hardness, high melting point, and good thermal conductivity, making it an ideal candidate for extreme environments. Yet, achieving full densification of TiC while maintaining a fine‐grained microstructure remains a significant challenge. In this study, the binderless TiC ceramics were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) under high pressure of 200 MPa at low temperature of 1500°C. The as‐preserved sample exhibited excellent properties, with Vickers hardness of 27.68 GPa and thermal conductivity of 28.77 W/mK. The results revealed that increasing the sintering pressure enables the fabrication of highly dense fine‐grained ceramics. The plastic deformation induced by high pressure further enhances hardness. This work demonstrates an effective strategy to overcome the typical trade‐off between densification and grain growth in TiC ceramics, leading to a high‐performance material suitable for demanding applications.