Structural and mechanical behavior of boron nitride fibers derived from poly [(methylamino) borazine] precursors: Optimization of the curing and pyrolysis procedures

A series of boron nitride fibers were prepared by varying the tension applied on a same lot of poly(methylamino)borazine fibers during their pyrolytic conversion at 1800 degrees C. Their microstructure/microtexture was studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy investigations. Such analyses showed that ceramic fibers presented good crystallinity, but crystallites oriented along the fiber axis with fiber stress. It is most interesting that stretching was essentially effective during the pyrolysis to 1000 degrees C, preventing fiber crimping, and decreasing the fiber diameter. Therefore, the fiber strength increased, while the fiber modulus also increased because of an improvement of the basal layer orientation along the fiber axis.