Preparation and characterization of biomorphic SiC hollow fibers from wood by chemical vapor infiltration

Biomorphic SiC hollow fibers were prepared by the reactive infiltration of SiO vapor into basswood-derived charcoal. Gaseous SiO was produced from a SiO2/Si powder mixture in Ar at elevated temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy were employed to characterize the structural morphology and phase compositions of the final products. The results show that the tubular cells in bulk charcoal are converted into lots of SiC hollow fibers with pore diameters of 10-50 μm and lengths ranging from hundreds of μm to several mm. Resulting SiC hollow fibers consist of β-SiC with a minute amount of α-SiC. The formation mechanism of SiC hollow fibers is based on the gas-solid reaction between SiO and carbon.