Typical growth of SiC fibers prepared by microwave heating with NiCl2 catalyst

Nickel chloride was used as a catalyst to rapidly synthesize SiC fibers at lower temperatures via microwave heating. The effects of catalyst concentration and synthesis temperature on the morphology and compo-sition of the product were studied. The synthesized SiC was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The synthesis mechanism of SiC fibers under the action of the NiCl2 catalyst was pro-posed. The results show that the stems of the bamboo-like nanowires are cubic beta-SiC, and the nodes are composed of a large number of stacking faults, with diameters ranging from 20 to 100 nm. During the preparation process, the magnetic catalyst plays a crucial role in the rapid synthesis of SiC fibers. The gas -liquid growth mechanism of SiC fibers under the action of a magnetic-field-line-like Si-Ni compound is proposed. (c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.