Degradation of mechanical and electrical properties after long-term oxidation and corrosion of non-oxide structural ceramic composites

This work summarizes the results related to the influence of the starting composition and of microstructure on properties degradation, due to oxidation and corrosion, relatively to the following structural ceramics: Si3 N4 TiN, Si3 N4 MoSi2, AlN SiC MoSi2, AlN SiC.The effects of: (i) long-term oxidation in air (100 h), in the temperature range 600–1500 °C and (ii) of long-term corrosion (400 h) in acid or basic aqueous solution at RT, 40 and 70 °C, on the electrical resistivity and mechanical strength of the composites are analysed and compared. The degradation of the properties are related to the characteristics of the surface and sub-surface damage after oxidation and corrosion treatments.