Crystallization behavior and controlling mechanism of iron-containing Si-C-N ceramics

Adel Francis; Emanuel Ionescu; Claudia Fasel; Ralf Riedel

doi:10.1021/ic900934u

Crystallization behavior and controlling mechanism of iron-containing Si-C-N ceramics

Inorg Chem. 2009 Nov 2;48(21):10078-83. doi: 10.1021/ic900934u.

Authors

Adel Francis¹, Emanuel Ionescu, Claudia Fasel, Ralf Riedel

Affiliation

¹ Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, P.O. Box 87, Helwan, Cairo 11722, Egypt. adel_francis@hotmail.com

PMID: 19788256
DOI: 10.1021/ic900934u

Abstract

The crystallization behavior and controlling mechanism of the Si-Fe-C-N system based on polymer-derived SiCN ceramic filled with iron metal powder has been studied. The composite preparation conditions allow the formation of a random distribution of metallic particles in the polymer matrix volume for the Si-C-N system. Pyrolysis of the composite material at 1100 degrees C indicates the presence of one crystalline phase Fe(3)Si. While the sample pyrolyzed at 1200 degrees C reveals the formation of both Fe(3)Si and Fe(5)Si(3) phases, a crystallization of beta-SiC is additionally observed by increasing the temperature up to 1300 degrees C. The propensity for the formation of SiC is due to the presence of Fe(5)Si(3), where a solid-liquid-solid (SLS) growth mechanism was suggested to occur. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and thermal gravimetric analysis with mass spectroscopic detection (TGA-MS) were employed to investigate the crystallization behavior of the Si-Fe-C-N system.