title: Physical and mechanical properties of highly textured polycrystalline Nb4AlC3ceramic.
abstract: Highly textured polycrystalline Nb4AlC3ceramic was fabricated by slip casting in a strong magnetic field followed by spark plasma sintering. Its Lotgering orientation factor was determined on the textured top and side surfaces asf(00l)∼1.0 andf(hk0)=0.36, respectively. This ceramic showed layered microstructure at the scales ranging from nanometers to millimeters. The as-prepared ceramic had excellent anisotropic physical properties. Along thec-axis direction, it showed higher hardness, bending strength, and fracture toughness of 7.0 GPa, 881 MPa and 14.1 MPa m1/2, respectively, whereas higher values of electrical conductivity (0.81×106Ω-1m-1), thermal conductivity (21.20 W m-1K-1) and Young's modulus (365 GPa) were obtained along thea- orb-axis direction.
authors.affiliation: World Premier International Research Center (WPI) Initiative on Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan; Nano Ceramics Center, NIMS, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Chunfeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: World Premier International Research Center (WPI) Initiative on Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan; Nano Ceramics Center, NIMS, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan; Nano Ceramics Center, NIMS, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakka
authors.affiliation: Nano Ceramics Center, NIMS, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: Hybrid Materials Center, NIMS, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuqi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Nano Ceramics Center, NIMS, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan; Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8571, Japan.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.affiliation: World Premier International Research Center (WPI) Initiative on Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidehiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
keywords: carbide; mechanical properties; nanolayered microstructure; physical properties; texture