Preparation and mechanical behaviors of SiOC-modified carbon-bonded carbon fiber composite with in-situ growth of three-dimensional SiC nanowires

Carbon-bonded carbon fiber (CBCF) composites are novel and important high-temperature insulation materials owing to their light weight, low thermal conductivity and high fracture tolerance. To further improve the mechanical property of CBCF composite, we propose a three-dimensional (3D) SiC nanowires structure, which is in situ grown on a CBCF matrix via directly annealing silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) ceramic precursor. The synthesized multiscale reinforcements including microscale SiOC ceramics and nanoscale SiC nanowires are mainly attributed to the initial phase separation of SiOC phase and subsequent solid-phase reaction of SiO and C phases. Compared to SiOC/CBCF composite, the resulting 3D SiC nanowires/SiOC/CBCF hybrid structure exhibited high flexural/tensile strength and fractured strain due to the pull-out and bridging behavior of SiC nanowires. This one-step process supplied a feasible way to synthesize 3D SiC nanowires to reinforce and toughen SiOC-modified CBCF composite.