Nonoxide ceramics silicon carbide

Many nonoxide ceramics form gaseous reaction products when oxidized. For example, when an alumina/silicon carbide composite is exposed to an oxidizing environment, SiC will oxidize, forming carbon monoxide via the following reaction ... 

Among nonoxides, silicon carbide and silicon nitride are two very important ceramics. Both are very hard and abrasive materials, and show excellent resistance to erosion and chemical attack in redudng environments. In oxidizing environments, any free silicon present in a silicon carbide or silicon nitride compact will be oxidized readily. Silicon carbide itself can also be oxidized at very high temperatures, the exact temperatures being a function of purity and... 

The last quarter of the twentieth century saw tremendous advances in the processing of continuous, fine diameter ceramic fibers. Figure 6.4 provides a summary of some of the important synthetic ceramic fibers that are available commercially. We have included in Fig. 6.4 two elemental fibers, carbon and boron, while we have excluded the amorphous, silica-based glasses. Two main categories of synthetic ceramic fibers are oxide and nonoxides. A prime example of oxide fibers is alumina while that of nonoxide fibers is silicon carbide. An important subclass of oxide fibers are silica-based glass fibers and we devote a separate chapter to them because of their commercial importance (see chapter 7). There are also some borderline ceramic fibers such as the elemental boron and carbon fibers. Boron fiber is described in this chapter while carbon fiber is described separately, because of its commercial importance, in Chapter 8. 

Silicon carbide Manufacture and applications in the nonoxide ceramics sector, see Section 5.5.5.4. 

Included in the term nonoxide ceramics are all non-electrically conducting materials in the boron-carbon-silicon-aluminum system. The industrially most important representatives, apart from carbon (see Section 5.7.4), are silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (Si3N4), boron carbide (B4C), boron nitride (BN) and aluminum nitride (AIN). 

Silicon carbide is the only nonoxide ceramic product of major industrial importance, apart from carbon. The worldwide production of unworked SiC was 450 10- t/a in 1995, corresponding to 90% capacity utilization. The USA and Canada accounted for 85 10 t/a of this, Western Europe for 195 10 t/a, Japan and China for 110- 10- t/a and other regions for 90 10 t/a. The previously predicted strong growth in worldwide production has not materialized. The largest European production plants are in Norway and the Netherlands. 

In nonoxide ceramics, nitrogen (N) or carbon (C) takes the place of oxygen in combination with silicon or boron. Specific substances are boron nitride (BN), boron carbide (B4C), the silicon borides (SiB4 and SiBg), silicon nitride (SisN4), and silicon carbide (SiC). All of these compounds possess strong, short covalent bonds. They are hard and strong, but brittle. Table 22.5 lists the enthalpies of the chemical bonds in these compounds. 

Compare oxide ceramics such as alumina (AI2O3) and magnesia (MgO), which have significant ionic character with covalently bonded nonoxide ceramics such as silicon carbide (SiC) and boron carbide (B4C see Problems 19 and 20) with respect to thermodynamic stability at ordinary conditions. 

Nonoxide ceramics, such as silicon carbides, silicon nitrides, and boron nitrides, have unique mechanical and functional characteristics. Silicon carbides with high thermal conductivity, high thermal stability, excellent mechanical strength, and chemical inertness are especially considered as effective catalyst supports. 

Silicon carbide is the most widely used nonoxide ceramic for heating elements for high-temperature furnaces. SiC... 

Silicon carbide (SiC) is the most widely used nonoxide ceramic. Its major application is in abrasives because of its hardness (surpassed only by diamond, cubic boron nitride, and boron carbide). Silicon carbide does not occur in nature and therefore must be synthesized. It occurs in two crystalline forms the cubic P phase, which is formed in the range 1400-1800°C, and the hexagonal a phase, formed at >2000°C. 

Berzelius [1] first reported the formation of silicon carbide in 1810 and 1821, but it was later rediscovered during various electrochemical experiments, notably by Despretz [2], Schiitzenberger [3], and Moissan [4]. However, it was Acheson [5] who first realized the technical importance of silicon carbide as a hard material and, believing it to be a compound of carbon and corundum, he named the new substance carborundum . By 1891, Acheson had managed to prepare silicon carbide on a large scale such that, today, it has become by far the most widely used nonoxide ceramic material. 

Possible errors and limitations. It is often impossible to lap oxide ceramics or nonoxide ceramics (e.g., silicon carbide or silicon nitride) to a sufficiently low thickness. As a result, certain microstructural components and grains that are smaller than the section thickness can overlap, rendering them impossible to detect with certainty. 

Boron-containing nonoxide amorphous or crystalline advanced ceramics, including boron nitride (BN), boron carbide (B4C), boron carbonitride (B/C/N), and boron silicon carbonitride Si/B/C/N, can be prepared via the preceramic polymers route called the polymer-derived ceramics (PDCs) route, using convenient thermal and chemical processes. Because the preparation of BN has been the most in demand and widespread boron-based material during the past two decades, this chapter provides an overview of the conversion of boron- and nitrogen-containing polymers into advanced BN materials. 

Ceramic fibers of the nonoxide variety such as silioon carbide, silicon oxycarbide such as Nicalon, silicon nitride, boron carbide, etc. have become very important because of their attractive combination of high stiffiiess, high strength and low density. We give brief description of some important nonoxide fibers. 

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