Fabrication and Property of rGO/SiC Composite

doi:10.15541/jim20180075

Abstract

Abstract:

SiC ceramics have excellent mechanical properties, but its toughness is relatively low. To enhance the fracture toughness of SiC ceramics, graphene is introduced as fillers. In this study, the silicon carbide-reduced graphene oxide (SiC/rGO) composites with different contents of rGO were fabricated by hot press sintering (HP). Near fully-dense SiC/rGO composite was obtained after being hot-pressed under 2050℃, 40 MPa for 1 h. In addition, the influences of graphene reinforcement on the sintering process, microstructure, and mechanical properties (fracture toughness, bending strength, and Vickers hardness) of SiC/rGO composites were discussed. The three-point flexural strength of 4wt% rGO/SiC composite reached 564 MPa, and the fracture toughness reached 4.02 MPa•m^1/2, which were 6% and 54% higher than those of hot-pressed SiC ceramics, respectively. The flexural strength of the three points of 6wt% rGO/SiC composite was 420 MPa, which was lower than that of hot-pressed SiC ceramics. While its fracture toughness was up to 4.56 MPa•m^1/2, which was 75% higher than that of hot-pressed SiC ceramics. The results of crack propagation show that the toughening mechanism can be ascribed to crack deflection, crack bridging and rGO pullout.

Key words: reduced graphene oxide (rGo), SiC ceramics, oriental doping

CLC Number:

TQ174

HUANG Yi-Hua, JIANG Dong-Liang, CHEN Zhong-Ming, LIU Xue-Jian, ZHANG Xian-Feng, LIAO Zhen-Kui, HUANG Zheng-Ren. Fabrication and Property of rGO/SiC Composite[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2018, 33(11): 1147-1153.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig. 1 HRTEM image of rGO

Fig. 2 SEM images of rGO before (a) and after (b) calcination at 2050℃

Fig. 3 Raman spectra of rGO (a) and rGO/SiC mixture powder (b)

Fig. 4 SEM images of fractured surfaces of composites with different rGO contents (a) 0; (b) 2wt%; (c) 4wt%; (d) 6wt%

Fig. 5 Density and relative density of rGO/SiC composites with different rGO contents

Fig. 6 SEM images of the polished surface (parallel to pressing direction) of SiC (a) and 4wt% rGO/SiC composite (b)

Table 1 Grain size of rGO/SiC composites with different rGO contents/μm

SiC+ 0rGO	SiC+ 1wt%rGO	SiC+ 2wt%rGO	SiC+ 4wt%rGO	SiC+ 6wt%rGO
2.04±0.75	2.02±0.65	2.01±0.86	1.86±0.58	1.87±0.75

Fig. 7 Elemental lining scanning of SiC ceramics with rGO oriental doping

Fig. 8 Bending strength and fracture toughness of rGO/SiC composites with different rGO contents

Fig. 9 TEM image of fracture face of rGO/SiC composite

Fig. 10 Toughening mechanism of rGO/SiC composite

References 20

[1]	LEE C, WEI X D, KYSAR J W, et al.Measurement of the elastic properties and intrinsic strength of monolayer graphene.Science, 2008, 321(5887): 385-388.
[2]	LEE J H, LOYA P E, LOU J, et al.Dynamic mechanical behavior of multilayer graphene via supersonic projectile penetration.Science, 2014, 346(6213): 1092-1096.
[3]	BALANDIN A A, GHOSH S, BAO W Z, et al.Superior thermal conductivity of single-layer graphene.Nano Lett., 2008, 8(3): 902-907.
[4]	BOLOTIN K I, SIKES K J, JIANG Z, et al.Ultrahigh electron mobility in suspended graphene.Solid State Commun., 2008, 146(9/10): 351-355.
[5]	JIANG D, ZHANG J.Properties of Carbide Ceramics from Gelcasting and Pressure-less Sintering. 3rd International Congress on Ceramics. IOP Conference Series-Materials Science and Engineering, 2011, 182011.
[6]	AHMAD SERJOUEI G G, ZHANG X F, SRIDHAR IDAPALAPATI, et al. On improving ballistic limit of bi-layer ceramic-metal armor.International Journal of Impact Engineering, 2017, 105(SI): 54-67.
[7]	LUO H Y,CHEN W N W, RAJENDRAN A M. Dynamic compressive response of damaged and interlocked SiC-N ceramics.Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 2006, 89(1): 266-273.
[8]	VIROJANADARA C, SYJARVI M, YAKIMOVA R, et al. Homogeneous large-area graphene layer growth on 6H-SiC (0001). Phys.Rev. B,2008, 78(24): 245403-1-6.
[9]	LIORENTE J, ROMAN MANSO B, MIRANZO P, et al.Tribological performance under dry sliding conditions of graphene/ silicon carbide composites.Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2016, 36(3): 429-435.
[10]	Li Q S, ZHANG Y J, GONG H Y, et al.Effects of graphene on the thermal conductivity of pressureless-sintered SiC ceramics.Ceramics International, 2015, 41(10): 13547-13552.
[11]	ROMAN-MANSO B, FIGUEIREDO F M, ACHIAGA B, et al.Electrically functional 3D-architectured graphene/SiC composites.Carbon, 2016, 100: 318-328.
[12]	ASL M S, KAKROUDI M G.Characterization of hot-pressed graphene reinforced ZrB2-SiC composite.Materials Science and Engineering a-Structural Materials Properties Microstructure and Processing, 2015, 625: 385-392.
[13]	BELMONTE M, NISTAL A, BOUTBIEN P, et al.Toughened and strengthened silicon carbide ceramics by adding graphene-based fillers.Scripta Materialia, 2016, 113: 127-130.
[14]	MIRANZO P, RAMIREZ C, ROMAN-MANSO B, et al.In situ processing of electrically conducting graphene/SiC nanocomposites.Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2013, 33(10): 1665-1674.
[15]	LI Q S, ZHAND Y J, GONG H Y, et al.Enhanced fracture toughness of pressureless-sintered SiC ceramics by addition of graphene.J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2016, 32(7): 633-638.
[16]	SEDLAK R, KOVALCIKOVA A, GIRMAN V, et al.Fracture characteristics of SiC/graphene platelet composites.Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2017, 37(14): 4307-4314.
[17]	AN Y M, HAN J C, ZHANG X H, et al.Bioinspired high toughness graphene/ZrB2 hybrid composites with hierarchical architectures spanning several length scales.Carbon, 2016, 107: 209-216.
[18]	LIU L X, WANG Y, LI X H, et al.Enhancing toughness in boron carbide with reduced graphene oxide.Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 2016, 99(1): 257-264.
[19]	HANZEL O, SEDLAK R, SEDLACEK J, et al.Anisotropy of functional properties of SiC composites with GNPs, GO and in-situ formed graphene.Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2017, 37(12): 3731-3739.
[20]	LIU J, YAN H X, REECE M J, et al.Toughening of zirconia/alumina composites by the addition of graphene platelets.Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2012, 32(16): 4185-4193.