Pure silicon served as bond coat was widely used in environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) due to the excellent oxidation resistance and interfacial bonding. The formation of thermally grown oxide (SiO2-TGO) frequently caused the formation of horizontal crack in the Si surface and even caused the coating failure. However, the water vapor corrosion behavior and failure mechanism of Si have not been fully studied. The water vapor corrosion behavior of deposited Si coating, polycrystalline and monocrystalline Si was investigated at 1300 ℃ in 90%H2O-10%O2 environment. The disappearance of isolated splashed particles and coarse surface on the Si coating indicated the volatilization of Si and SiO2 during water vapor corrosion test. The characterization results indicated that the presence of defect provide the diffusion paths for oxygen and water vapor, leading to the increase of TGO formation rate. The growth of SiO2 thickness with the increase in corrosion time implied that the SiO2 formation reaction rate higher than its volatilization rate. It was important to find that the thermal mismatch between Si and α-cristobalite was contributed to the formation of mud-cracks in TGO layer by the calculation of elastic strain energy.
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