Etching process of silicon carbide from polysiloxane by chlorine

•Etching process of SiC from polysiloxane by chlorine was investigated.•Different etching mechanisms of SiC in 600–900 °C were concluded in this paper.•The SiC-DCs own an amorphous structure and are in highly microporosity.

The etching process of silicon carbide by dry chlorine was investigated as a function of etching temperature using a commercial available polymethyl(phenyl)siloxane resin. Results from etching rate show increasing etching temperature could lead to a change for etching mechanism from diffusion-controlling to interface reaction-controlling. The chlorination of β-SiC in this study should be managed at above 600 °C and can complete at 900 °C for 3 h. A pronounced core–shell structure was observed owing to the partial conversion. Silicon carbide derived carbons (SiC-DCs) are in highly microporosity, with single-modal pore size distributions at around 0.9 nm.

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