Patent ID: 6986873

Claim:
A method of producing a single-phase composition M n+1 A z X n , by means of SHS (Self-propagating High Temperature Synthesis), where n lies within a range of 0.8-3.2, where z lies within a range of 0.8-1.2, where component M is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Ti (titanium), Sc (scandium), V (vanadium), Cr (chromium), Zr (zirconium) , Nb (niobium) and Ta (tantalum), and where component X is at least one of the non-metals C (carbon) and N (nitrogen), and where component A is at least one of the chemical elements Si (silicon), Al (aluminum), and Sn (tin) or a compound containing at least one of said chemical elements, such that a final, desired compound will include the components M n+1 A z X n , said method comprising the steps of: forming a powder mixture from components M, X, and A; adding to the powder mixture a pre-reacted compound to provide a resulting mixture, the pre-reacted compound having the composition M n+1 A z X n and serving as a heat sink; reacting the resulting mixture by igniting said powder mixture under an inert atmosphere to prevent dissociation of a resulting single-phase composition; and maintaining the reaction temperature at or above a temperature at which the components react but below a temperature at which the resulting single-phase composition dissociates.