Development of multi-functional NITE-porous SiC for ceramic insulators

Porous silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics are being considered as functional materials for advanced energy systems due to their low thermal and electrical conductivity, low thermal-expansion coefficient, good thermal-shock resistance, and excellent mechanical and chemical stability at elevated temperature. However, conventional processing routes for SiC are complicated and conventional porous SiC shows poor mechanical and chemical stability at high temperature. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a simple fabrication method. In this study, porous SiC ceramic have been fabricated based on the NITE process, a recently developed processing technique for high performance SiCf/SiC composites. Ceramic porosity was calculated from relative and theoretical density, which was obtained by the rule of mixture. The port shape and size distribution were examined by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Mechanic properties were evaluated using three-point bend and tensile testing. Thermal conductivity was measured by the laser flash method from room temperature to 900 °C.