Abstract
The effects of clay, aluminum hydroxide, and carbon powder on the sintering of a Si/SiC mixture from photovoltaic silicon-wafer production were investigated. Sintering temperature was fixed at $1,350^{\circ}C$ and the sintered bodies were characterized by SEM and XRD to analyze the microstructure and to measure the apparent porosity, absorptivity, and apparent density. The XRD peak intensity of SiC in the sintered body was increased by adding 5% carbon to the Si/SiC mixture. From this result, it is confirmed that Si in the Si/SiC mixture had reacted with the added carbon. Addition of aluminum hydroxide decreased the cristobalite phase and increased the stable mullite phase. The measurement of the physical properties indicates that adding carbon to the Si/SiC mixture enables us to obtain a dense sintered body that has high apparent density and low absorptivity. The sintered body produced from the Si/SiC mixture with aluminum hydroxide and carbon powder as sintering additives can be applied to diesel particulate filters or to heat storage materials, etc., since it possesses high thermal conductivity, and anticorrosion and antioxidation properties.
