SiC nanowire-induced fabrication of fine-grained and highly-density SiC coating by pressure-less reactive sintering

Fine-grained and high-density SiC coating was fabricated on carbon materials by incorporating SiC nanowires during the pressure-less reactive sintering for the first time. The grain size, relative density, and fracture toughness of the as-fabricated coating are 1.5 ± 0.6 μm, 95%, and 5.03 ± 0.73 MPa m^1/2, respectively, resulting in a good oxidation protective ability, which can efficiently protect carbon materials from oxidation at 900 °C for more than 70 h or at 1500 °C for more than 90 h. The formation of such microstructure may be associated to the increasing nucleation rate resulting from the microstructure evolution and phase transformation of SiC nanowires during the sintering process.