An inorganic salt strategy to fabricate C/C-ZrC-SiC composites with enhanced mechanical and ablation resistance by PIP method

To reduce the cost of C/C-ZrC-SiC composites, an inorganic salt strategy was proposed for fabricating these composites using the PIP method. The precursor solution , composed of zirconium tetrachloride, tetraethoxysilane , and furfuryl alcohol, exhibits lower viscosity, facilitating more efficient infiltration into the C/C matrix and reducing porosity in the final composite. Fine ZrC and SiC particles, with an average particle size of 2.03 μm, were homogeneously distributed within the composite matrix . The resulting material demonstrated a flexural strength of 193.2 MPa, along with linear and mass ablation rate of 0.03 μm/s and 0.10 mg/s, respectively. The uniform distribution of fine ZrC and SiC particles within the dense matrix significantly enhances mechanical properties and ablation resistance. During ablation, these particles promote the formation of a protective oxide scale consisting of a dense outer ZrO 2 layer and an inner SiO 2 layer. The dense ZrO 2 layer effectively retards oxygen diffusion into the composite, providing excellent resistance to mechanical erosion, while the continuous SiO 2 layer minimizes the ingress of oxidizing gases, further enhancing ablation resistance. This study demonstrates that the inorganic salt strategy can be used to fabricate C/C-ZrC-SiC composites at a lower cost while achieving superior properties, offering a promising approach for producing C/C-UHTCs composites.