Oxidation behavior of SiC–SiBCN ceramics

The oxidation behavior of SiC–SiBCN ceramics was studied at temperature range of 1200–1500 °C in air atmosphere. Amorphous SiBCN derived from a polyborosilazane precursor was used to prepare SiC–SiBCN composite ceramics. XRD and SEM were employed to analyze the phase composition and microstructure after oxidation experiments. The oxidation kinetics was studied by measuring the thickness of oxide layers. The values of the oxide layer thickness were found to fit a typical parabolic kinetics. The activation energy of the oxidation was also calculated from the rate constants of the different temperatures according to Arrhenius equation.