Atomic layer deposited titanium dioxide coatings on KD-II silicon carbide fibers and their characterization

To provide oxidation protection and/or to act as an interfacial coating, titanium oxide (TiO2) coatings were deposited on KD-II SiC fibers by employing atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique with tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium (TDMAT) and water (H2O) as precursors. The average deposition rate was about 0.08 nm per cycle, and the prepared coatings were smooth, uniform and conformal, shielding the fibers entirely. The as-deposited coatings were amorphous regardless of the coating thickness, and changed to anatase and rutile crystal phase after annealing at 600 degrees C and 1000 degrees C, respectively. The oxidation measurement suggests that the TiO2 coating enhanced the oxidation resistance of SiC fibers obviously. SiC fibers coated with a 70-nm-thick TiO2 layer retained a relatively high tensile strength of 1.66 GPa even after exposition to air at 1400 degrees C for 1 h, and thick silica layer was not observed. In contrast, uncoated SiC fibers were oxidized dramatically through the same oxidation treatment, covered with a macro-cracked thick silica film, and the tensile strength was not measurable due to interfilament adhesion. The above results indicate that TiO2 films deposited by ALD are a promising oxidation resistance coating for SiC fibers. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.