A detailed study of the microstructure and thermal stability of typical SiC fibers

Highlights: • The cross-sectional microstructure and thermal stability of typical SiC fibers were characterized via SEM and TEM. • The SiC fiber with gradient microstructure has better properties than that with uniform microstructure. • The graphite exhibits straight planes on the fiber surface while they're turbostratic inside the fiber. Continuous SiC fibers have attracted increasing research interest for their significant application in aerospace and nuclear energy. Control of inhomogeneity and decrement of defects are crucial for improving the mechanical and high-temperature performance of SiC fibers. Thus an understanding of fine and detailed microstructural and microchemical distribution of SiC fibers is urgently needed. In the present work, the cross-sectional phase distributions, morphologies and defects of amorphous, non-stoichiometric and near-stoichiometric SiC fibers were well characterized. From surface to core, the amorphous and non-stoichiometric fibers exhibited uniform microstructures, but a gradient change along the radial direction was observed in the near-stoichiometric fiber. Nanosized SiC and turbostratic carbon (2–4 nm) were randomly distributed inside the amorphous fiber. A large amount of graphite surrounding SiC grains appears in the non-stoichiometric fiber which possess low strength and weak thermal stability. The near-stoichiometric fiber has transgranular fracturing, high strength and favorable thermal stability, and the graphite planes are turbostratic inside the fiber but straight on the surface. The results of both energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry measurements and first-principles calculations demonstrate that Al atoms can occupy Si sites in the SiC grains. Our findings offer fine understanding for fabricating SiC fibers with superior properties.