Preparation and oxidation protection of CVD SiC/a-BC/SiC coatings for 3D C/SiC composites

An amorphous boron carbide (a-BC) coating was prepared by LPCVD process from BCl3–CH4–H2–Ar system. XPS result showed that the boron concentration was 15.0 at.%, and carbon was 82.0 at.%. One third of boron was distributed to a bonding with carbon and 37.0 at.% was dissolved in graphite lattice. A multiple-layered structure of CVD SiC/a-BC/SiC was coated on 3D C/SiC composites. Oxidation tests were conducted at 700, 1000, and 1200 °C in 14 vol.% H2O/8 vol.% O2/78 vol.% Ar atmosphere up to 100 h. The 3D C/SiC composites with the modified coating system had a good oxidation resistance. This resulted in the high strength retained ratio of the composites even after the oxidation.