Effects of Ni catalyzer on growth velocity and morphology of SiC nano-fibers

Composite felts reinforced by both SiC nano-fibers (SiC-NFs) and carbon fibers were prepared at 1 273 K using Ni granules as catalyzers with different deposition time. SiC-NFs were deposited on the surface of the carbon fibers in situ by catalytic chemical vapor deposition(CCVD). The phase, microstructure and morphology of the fibers after electroplating and deposition were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM. The results show that the SiC-NFs produced by CCVD are composed of single crystal of β-SiC. It is found that smaller nano-granules are more active as catalyzers. The resulting SiC-NFs appear more spindle-like and have a more homogeneous dispersion. The mass change of the samples before and after deposition shows that using more Ni granules results in a faster growth velocity of SiC-NFs. With the same electroplating time, the growth velocity of the SiC-NFs first increases and then decreases. At around 4 h, it reaches the maximum growth velocity, and it becomes nearly constant at around 8 h. After 8 h, the stable growth velocity of the electroplated Ni samples is faster than that of the conventional sample produced without catalyzers, because the SiC-NFs can improve the specific surface area and the activity of the surface.