Effect of milling parameters on exfoliation-assisted dispersion of short carbon fibers in silicon carbide powder

•A novel methodology for the dispersion of CFs in SiC powder was explored.•The influence of milling parameters on the dispersion and distribution was studied.•Exfoliation of CFs aided in excellent dispersion and distribution.•The dispersion and distribution was found very sensitive to milling parameters.•Moderate BPR, low SMPR and short MT were found optimum.

A novel methodology for the dispersion of carbon fibers (CFs) in silicon carbide (SiC) powder without any dispersing agent was explored. Short CFs were chopped and exfoliated. The exfoliated fibers were dispersed in SiC powder through wet ball milling, drying and crushing. The influence of various ball milling parameters like milling time (MT), ball to powder ratio (BPR), slurry media to powder ratio (SMPR), etc., on the dispersion and distribution, and average particle size (APS) of composite powder was studied. Two MTs (4 and 8 h), two BPRs (4 and 8), and four SMPRs (6, 10, 20 and 35 mL/cm3) were used. The dispersion and distribution was checked through environmental scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results showed that the increase in MT and BPR improved the distribution along with dispersion but, surprisingly, infuse fiber filaments. The APS of powder mixture was found to decrease with MT and BPR. The results further showed that the dispersion and distribution was improved with decrease in SMPR. The severe ball formation was noticed at a SMPR of 35 mL/cm3. Further, the APS was found highly dependent on SMPR.

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