Single-Crystalline Pyramidal TiC Particles Grown by Biphase Diffusion Synthesis.

In this study, we present single-crystalline pyramid-shaped (SP) TiC particles synthesized on a stacked melt (copper)-solid (titanium) substrate using a biphase diffusion synthesis (BDS) method, in which different sizes ranging from nano- to micrometer scale were obtained within the copper melt with the {100} planes exposed to air. Direct observation and further plasma treatment of the pyramids at different self-assembly stages facilitated the investigation of their growth mode, especially in the horizontal plane. The dendritic growth mode along with the edge and corner-shared modes of the SP TiC particles frozen on the copper surface was investigated.