Wood-derived porous ceramics via infiltration of SiO2-Sol and carbothermal reduction

Klingner, Raoul, Sell, Juergen, Zimmermann, Tanja, Herzog, Andreas, Vogt, Ulrich, Graule, Thomas, Thurner, Philipp, Beckmann, Felix and Müller, Bert (2003) Wood-derived porous ceramics via infiltration of SiO2-Sol and carbothermal reduction. Holzforschung, 57 (4), 440-446. (doi:10.1515/HF.2003.065).

Abstract

The use of wood as a structure-giving material may be the key to producing temperature-resistant ceramics featuring high and directed porosity combined with necessary strength. The objective of this study was to develop a simple process to convert the evolutionarily optimized material wood into highly porous ceramics. Beech and pine, known to be relatively permeable, were pyrolyzed in a nitrogen atmosphere. The carbon-templates formed were infiltrated with various kinds of silica sol (SiO2). The resulting SiO2/C composite was transformed into a SiC-ceramic (silicon carbide) via carbothermal reduction. Through the described process the macroscopic pore-structure of wood was transformed exactly into SiC. The SiC-ceramic produced proved to be thermo-resistant. It remained stable in oxygen atmosphere at 1200°C, after a SiO2 coating around the SiC had been formed. This study focused on the alteration of the cell wall microstructure during the conversion of wood into SiC. Furthermore, the optimization of the individual process steps, pyrolysis, infiltration and ceramization along the most efficient route was pursued.

This record has no associated files available for download.

Contributors

Author: Philipp Thurner

Download statistics