Ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are an ad hoc type of ceramics with robust resistance against extremely high temperature, being thought of as a potential candidate as thermal protected materials. Owing to their outstanding performance under extreme conditions, these kinds of materials are particularly suitable for high-temperature applications, such as rocket propulsion systems, hypersonic and re-entry vehicles, aerospace, and other high-tech fields as well.

 Zirconium Diboride (ZrB2) is a widely researched UHTCs renowned for its exceptional physical and chemical properties, such as high melting point (3250 °C) and hardness (22 GPa), good thermal shock resistance and moderate chemical stability despite the fact that it was infamous for poor oxidation resistance under elevated temperature. To cope with this thorny conundrum, silicon carbide (SiC) and zirconium carbide (ZrC) are often introduced to ZrB2 matrix in order to optimize its high-temperature oxidation resistance, suppress the growth of silicon carbide depletion layers, and prevent abnormal grain growth at elevated temperatures. As a consequence, the material's physical and mechanical properties will be improved.

This study conducted the sol-gel method combined with high-temperature sintering to synthesize a ternary ceramic material with ZrB2-SiC-ZrC nano scale structures. The influence of composition ratios, sintering temperature, and other process parameters on the morphology and crystalline phases were discussed.