Physico-chemical characterisation of silicon carbide refractories

The present study was undertaken to establish a methodology for character rising silicon carbide-based refractories, as detailed information is unavailable in the literature on this point. We analysed several types of silicon carbide refractories belonging to the non-oxide and composite families of refractories, characterising each component by different methods. The phases were characterised first by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The components were then chemically characterised by different methods, which included the wet method, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, coulometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The best method for characterising each component was determined. The proposed methodology was validated using reference materials.