High-temperature ceramics, so-called refractories, are widely used for the manufacturing of metals, for energy generation and aerospace applications. Refractories are usually strong and stiff but fragile due to the lack of plastic deformation and other intrinsic toughening mechanisms. This inherent brittleness limits their use in applications where catastrophic failure is not tolerated. The present work reports the design and fabrication of refractories with a bio inspired nacre-like microstructure comprising aligned alumina platelets, separated by an aluminium borate interphase, obtained through transient liquid phase sintering. The bioinspired composites exhibit high strength, 672 MPa, toughness, 7.4 MPa m^1/2, and stable crack propagation at high temperatures, above 600 °C, due to the aluminium borate interlayer. This makes nacre-like ceramic refractories sintered with a transient liquid phase good candidate for high temperature applications, competing favourably with ceramic matrix composites and following a simpler and cheaper processing route.

中文翻译：

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耐高温的类似珍珠母的陶瓷耐火材料

高温陶瓷，所谓的耐火材料，广泛用于金属制造，能源生产和航空航天应用。由于缺乏塑性变形和其他固有的增韧机制，耐火材料通常是坚硬的但易碎的。这种固有的脆性限制了它们在不能容忍灾难性故障的应用中的使用。本工作报告了耐火材料的设计和制造，该耐火材料具有生物启发性的珍珠母状微结构，包括通过瞬态液相烧结获得的，排列成一排的氧化铝片，并被硼酸铝相隔开。生物启发的复合材料表现出高强度，672 MPa，韧性，7.4 MPa m ^1/2由于硼酸铝中间层的存在，并且在高于600°C的高温下具有稳定的裂纹扩展。这使得在瞬态液相中烧结的珍珠母状陶瓷耐火材料成为高温应用的良好选择，可与陶瓷基复合材料竞争，并遵循更简单，更便宜的加工路线。