Hafnium carbide structural foams synthesized from polymer precursors
(2.Department Materials Science and Engineering, University of .Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083)
Abstract: Hafnium carbide (HfC) was applied in space and aerospace due to its ultra high melting temperature, high specific strength and moderate oxidation resistance. A novel synthesizing method was used to produce low density and high strength HfC structural foams through the thermolysis and pyrolysis of Hf containing polymer precursors (mixing of hafnium trifluoroacetylacetonate and epoxy) under vacuum atmosphere. The X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the produced foam is primarily composed of HfC containing 9%？10% HfO2. Several polymer powder compaction methods were used to improve the mechanical properties of HfC foam. Compression strengths of 200 MPa are achieved for HfC foams with density of 1.9 g/cm3 (total porosity about 85%). The proposed methodology of synthesizing HfC foam has the advantages of simple, inexpensive and less production time than alternate methods.
Key words: Hafnium carbide; mechanical properties; polymer precursors; foam