Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous silicon carbide

Abstract

A modified sol–gel method is proposed for the preparation of mesoporous silicon carbide. In this method, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and phenolic resin are used for preparing a binary carbonaceous silicon xerogel, and nickel nitrate is employed in the sol–gel process as a pore-adjusting reagent. SiC was produced in the carbothermal reduction of the binary xerogel at 1250 °C in an argon flow (40 cm 3 min −1) and purified by removing excess silica, carbon and other impurities. The purified SiC sample was characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, and N 2 adsorption, and the results showed that the SiC sample had a surface area of 112 m 2 g −1 (BET) and an average pore diameter of about 10 nm.