Preparation of high-quality ß-SiC nanowhiskers by using carbon fibres as carbon source

The effect of pitch-based carbon fiber microstructure and composition on the formation and growth of SiC whiskers via reaction of such fibers with silicon sources

“…As a result, silicon carbide will be produced by heterogeneous nucleation according to reaction (2) [14,23]. In addition, further growth of SiC whiskers is believed to occur via the gas-phase process in reaction (3).…”

“…Indeed, Zhou et al [22] was first to propose that the reactivity and atomic configuration of carbon nanotubes were crucial factors governing the formation of SiCw by heating a mixture of carbon nanotubes and silicon monoxide. In a subsequent study, SiC whiskers were synthesized successfully by reacting activated carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers and graphite with gaseous SiO at 1200-1300, 1400 , 1500 and 1600 ºC, respectively [12,19,23,24]. Thus, SiC whiskers with various yields and morphologies were synthesized at various temperatures on different carbon sources, indicating that the carbon sources have a significant influence on the formation and growth of SiCw.…”

“…The mechanism was considered to be epitaxial growth of SiCw on some random spots of carbon sources [23]. However, the influence of the carbon source on the formation of SiCw is still unclear.…”

Simple method for SiC nanowires fabrication

“…So, it is seen from the reactions (1) to (3) that CO vapor formation process has behavior of positive feedback [1]. 3.…”

“…Due to the combination of outstanding mechanical properties and high thermal and chemical stability, SiC nanorods, nanowires and whiskers have been primarily used as reinforcement materials in composites. In recent several years, a lot of methods of SiCNWs fabrication have been developed, such as carbothermal reduction [1,2], metal-assisted vaporliquid-solid (VLS) reaction [3][4], chemical vapor deposition CVD [5][6][7], metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) [8], sol-gel process [9,10], arcdischarge process [11], etc. However, most of these methods involve using high-cost starting material, complicated equipment, time-consumption, lower yield of products and metal catalyst introduction, so their applications are limited.…”