High-temperature oxidation behavior of SiBN fibers in air

SiBN fibers are one of the most admirable microwave-transparent reinforced materials for high Mach number aircrafts. Currently, the detailed high-temperature oxidation behavior of SiBN fibers has not been studied yet. In this work, we studied the high-temperature oxidation behavior of SiBN fibers with different boron contents at the temperature range of 1000–1400 °C in air. SiBN fibers started to be oxidized at 1100 °C, with Si3N4 and BN phase oxidized to SiO2 and B2O3, respectively. Due to the gasification and the escape of molten B2O3 at high temperatures, amorphous SiO2 could be remained at the fiber surface. As the fiber further oxidized, the molten B2O3 at the inside may infiltrate into the fiber interior to react with Si3N4, causing the precipitation of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanoparticles and the formation of SiO2/BN layer. Finally, complex oxidation layers with two distinct concentric sublayers accompanied with two transition sublayers could be formed after the oxidizing treatment.