Preparation of SiC powders by carbothermal reduction with bamboo charcoal as renewable carbon source

Bamboo charcoal was expected to be a renewable carbon source for carbide materials in carbothermal reduction because of its superior characteristics. SiC powders with characteristic shapes were fabricated by carbothermal reduction with industrial silica sol and bamboo charcoal particles as silicon and carbon sources respectively, and the effects of reacting temperature and time on shape evolutions and properties of the as-prepared SiC powders were investigated. The silica sol/bamboo charcoal system was firstly transformed into SiO2/C system by the transition of silica sol and graphitization of bamboo charcoal, and the carbothermal reduction between SiO2 and C occurred at/above 1600°C. The characteristic shapes of SiC particles were transformed from string-beads-like to dumbbell-like and rod-like with the increase of reacting temperature. The prepared SiC powders are expected to become new raw material for silicon carbide ceramic composites.