New discoveries in the growth of SiC whiskers derived from hydrogen silicone oil

Abstract The SiC whiskers were prepared on carbon matrix by high hydrogen-containing silicone oil (H-PSO) as raw materials. Based on the results of previous experiments, we further studied the effect of non-heat treatment factor on growth of SiC whiskers, including type and thickness of carbon matrix, size of embedded powders, and growth catalysts. The results showed that the powder particle size and the matrix should be properly matched to facilitate whisker growth. When grown on 2 mm graphite plate, the particle size was 150 μm-180 μm, the SiC whiskers were straight, smooth and homogeneous, showing hexagonal prisms morphology, which were bounded by low-energy (1 1 1) planes, rather than silicon oxide coating. The change of particle size led to the change of concentration of reaction gas and partial pressure of oxygen, which resulted in the difference content of silicon oxide in whiskers, showing hexagonal prisms or cylindrical morphology. Adding growth catalyst, the whisker morphology was not as good as the whisker grown without catalyst, and the growth mechanism had changed.