Synthesis of biomorphaus SiC-ceramics

Abstract

The carbothermal reduction processing of partially mineralized fir (Abies alba) samples was used to obtain highly-porous SiC ceramics with cellular structure. The infiltration of TEOS (tetraetilortosilikat, Si(OC2H5)4) as a silica source, was conducted in order to carry out the mineralization process. Synthesis of the SiC was achieved with a C/SiO2 replica annealing at 1723 K in Ar atmosphere. The obtained samples were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The experimental results revealed that the hierarchical bimorphous wood structure was preserved even after high-temperature treatment. Microstructural characterization of the ceramics revealed the presence of the P-SiC phase and traces of the a-SiC phase.

Keywords

• SiC
• wood
• biomorphic ceramics
• non-oxide ceramics
• carbothermal reduction