Conversion of Carbon Fiber into Silicon Carbide Fiber by Pack-Cementation

Carbon fiber was reacted with gaseous silicon monoxide which is produced from pack-powder mixture at elevated temperature. As a result of the reaction, two kinds of SiC fiber were obtained. The first one was SiC fibers which were converted from carbon fiber. The fiber is constituted with polycrystal like fine grains or monolithic crystals that have a size from sub-micron to $10\;{\mu}m$. Their size depends on the temperature during the conversion reaction. The second one was ultra-fine SiC fibers that were found on the surface of the converted SiC fibers. The ultra-fine fibers have diameters from 0.08 to $0.2\;{\mu}m$ and their aspect ratio were larger than 100. The chemical composit ion of the ultra-fine fibers was analyzed using an Auger electron spectroscopy. In result, the fibers consist of 51% silicon, 38% carbon and 11% oxygen by weight.