Sintering β-SiC nanopowder using novel microwave-current assisted sintering technique: preliminary study

Silicon carbide is a crucial structure material because of its wide applications in different fields, such as electronics. The impurities have negative impact on the homogenous sinterability of nano SiC during the sintering process, especially the silicon dioxide. So, the consolidation of SiC nanopowders was conducted by the microwave-current assisted sintering process. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were utilised to examine the nanopowders and sintered samples of SiC. The results showed that the smallest average grain sizes of sintered specimens of treated and untreated-SiC nanopowders were 331 and 428 nm, respectively. The relative densities of sintered specimens of treated and untreated-SiC nanopowders were around 97.1% and 93.8%, respectively. In conclusion, the nanostructure of sintered SiC was the benchmark of the microwave-current assisted sintering technique.