Synthesis of porous silicon carbide from cellulose fibre templates infiltrated with polycarbosilane

Abstract

Amorphous silicon carbide (SiC) with a stable porous structure was synthesised using a cellulose fibre preform (ash less filter paper) infiltrated with poly(methyl-carbosilane) and heated to 1000°C, first under N2 and then air. Scanning electron microscopy and Hg porosimetry confirmed the structure and porosity of the preform was largely reproduced in the final material; the porosity of the untreated template (72·4%) decreased following pyrolysis (58·1%) and then increased after treatment in air (80·0%). The SiC yield, inferred from thermogravimetric analysis of the infiltrated template, was linearly correlated with the number of infiltration steps and ranged between 3 and 21 wt-% for one and five infiltrations respectively.

Metal oxides and polysaccharides: an efficient hybrid association for materials chemistry

“…In the studies mentioned above, cellulose was exclusively considered as a template and its reactivity was generally not considered, except for the outermost layer. But in other domains, biotemplates have often been considered as a C-provider for the production of carbides, such as SiC [246][247][248][249] or 250 B 4 C, 251,252 TiC, 253,254 C-doped TiO 2 , 147,255 C-doped SiO 2 , 256 or as a reducing agent for the preparation of metal particles, 129 and recently metal fibers. 257 However, biotemplates are very seldom considered as an O-source functioning as both a template and reagent, e.g.…”