Oxidation protection of C/C composites with in situ bamboo-shaped SiC nanowire-toughened Si–Cr coating

An in situ bamboo-shaped SiC nanowire-toughened Si–Cr coating was prepared on the carbon/carbon composites by pack cementation and heat treatment with ferrocene as the catalyst. The microstructures and oxidation behavior of the coating were investigated. Results showed that the coating had a dense microstructure, without the penetrating microcracks, which was primarily attributed to the unusual toughening effect of the bamboo-shaped nanowires resulting from the mechanical interlocking between the nodes and the matrix. The coating exhibited good oxidation protection ability at high temperature. The weight gain of the samples was 0.79% after isothermal oxidation at 1500 °C for 185 h.