Preparation and characterization of silicon carbide fibers from activated carbon fibers

Silicon carbide fibers were prepared by the reaction between activated carbon fibers and silicon monoxide generated from a mixture of silicon and silicon dioxide at temperatures from 1200 to 1300°C in an inert atmosphere of argon. The reaction was completed at temperatures as low as 1200°C, which means that activated carbon fibers had a high reactivity. The resulting sample maintained the original morphology of the starting material, which was an advantage because of the difficulty in post shaping silicon carbide, and led to a silicon carbide fiber with high specific surface area. The resulting samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, and by nitrogen adsorption measurements at 77.4 K to obtain surface area and pore size distributions. The morphology of the resulting sample was observed by scanning electron microscopy and the electronic structure was investigated by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques.