RB-SiC Ceramics Derived from the Phenol Resin Added with Starch

Abstract

Reaction bonded silicon carbide (RB-SiC) was fabricated by phenol resin, starch, solidified agent and silicon powder through the following steps: first, carbonizing at high temperature for 7-9h, infiltrating silicon at 1450-1600oC for 0.5-2h, and then removing excessive silicon at 1700oC for 0.5h. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were employed to characterize and analyze the microstructures and phase composition of the preforms and the final RB-SiC products. In addition, the effect of carbonization temperature, the amount of starch and solidified agent on strength and apparent porosity of final RB-SiC were also discussed. The results showed that the carbonization process of phenol resin can be divided into three steps: at temperatures from 400oC to 600oC, the structure of polymer changes less; at temperatures from 600oC to 1000oC, the fundamental chain of polymer is destroyed, and inverts to glass-like carbon; at temperatures from 1000oC to 1200oC, with the increasing of carbonization temperature, the structure of glass-like carbon changes into the structure of disorder graphite. And the increased micro-pores could be obtained by adding starch.