The preparation of mullite foamed ceramics reinforced by in-situ SiC whiskers and their reinforcement mechanism

A SiC whisker-bonded mullite foamed ceramic was prepared by using white clay, industrial alumina and silicon powder as raw materials without solid carbon sources. The XRD, SEM, EDS, and Factsage® software were used to investigate the effect of sintering temperature on the phase composition, microstructure, compressive strength, and Young's modulus of foamed ceramics. Additionally, the synthesis reaction of in-situ SiC whiskers and the effect of their formation on the properties of ceramics were studied. The results showed that the in-situ SiC whiskers with dendrite shapes were formed after firing above 1300 °C at the expense of Si/SiO vapors as well as CO vapor, though there were no solid carbon sources in raw materials, which provided a new idea for the synthesis of SiC whiskers. The formation of SiC whiskers was helpful for improving the compressive strength and Young's modulus of mullite foamed ceramics remarkably. Furthermore, the reinforcement mechanism has been investigated systematically.