Oxidation protection of carbon/carbon composites by a novel SiC nanoribbon-reinforced SiC–Si ceramic coating

• Novel SiC nanoribbon-reinforced SiC–Si ceramic coating was prepared.
• The toughness of the coating was significantly increased by SiC nanoribbons.
• The interfacial bonding of the coating-C/C was obviously enhanced by SiC nanoribbons.
• The coating had good oxidation protective ability in a large temperature range.

A novel SiC–Si ceramic coating reinforced with well-dispersed SiC nanoribbons was prepared on carbon/carbon (C/C) composites by chemical vapor deposition and pack cementation. The mechanical tests showed that the fracture toughness of the coating and the interfacial bonding strength of the coating-C/C increased by 98% and 99% after incorporating SiC nanoribbons, respectively. The oxidation tests showed that the oxidation of the samples was a continuous weight gain process, and the final weight gain were 61.84 g⋅m−2 during thermogravimetric analysis from 300 °C to 1500 °C and 38.0 g⋅m−2 after isothermal oxidation test for 96 h, respectively.