Protective SiC Coating on Carbon Fibers by Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

High-quality ${\beta}$-silicon carbide (SiC) coatings are expected to prevent the oxidation degradation of carbon fibers in carbon fiber/silicon carbide (C/SiC) composites at high temperature. Uniform and dense ${\beta}$-SiC coatings were deposited on carbon fibers by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LP-CVD) using silane ($SiH_4$) and acetylene ($C_2H_2$) as source gases which were carried by hydrogen gas. SiC coating layers with nanometer scale microstructures were obtained by optimization of the processing parameters considering deposition mechanisms. The thickness and morphology of ${\beta}$-SiC coatings can be controlled by adjustment of the amount of source gas flow, the mean velocity of the gas flow, and deposition time. XRD and FE-SEM analyses showed that dense and crack-free ${\beta}$-SiC coating layers are crystallized in ${\beta}$-SiC structure with a thickness of around 2 micrometers depending on the processing parameters. The fine and dense microstructures with micrometer level thickness of the SiC coating layers are anticipated to effectively protect carbon fibers against the oxidation at high-temperatures.