Silicon Carbide is a Ceramic With a Variety of Specialty Applications

SiC is an abrasive ceramic that’s used for many specialized applications. Due to its chemical inertness and resistance to chemicals and high temperatures, SiC makes for an excellent material choice in machinery, devices, parts and more.

SiC is one of the most commonly-used non-oxide ceramics and ranks second only to diamond, cubic boron nitride and boron carbide in terms of hardness. Furthermore, this material boasts superior thermal shock resistance as well as low coefficient of expansion.

Hardheid

Silicon carbide is one of the hardest and most wear-resistant advanced ceramic materials. Its Mohs hardness rating of 9.5 exceeds that of alumina (9), zirconia (8.5) and silicon nitride (9).

Mechanical seals, pump parts and semiconductor processing equipment all rely on this material’s mechanical or abrasion resistance for reliable functioning. Furthermore, its sliding properties and thermal resistance make it suitable for higher temperature environments.

Ceramic materials possessing excellent thermal conductivity can quickly dissipate heat more efficiently than most others; making it an excellent electrical semi-conductor capable of performing across a range of temperature environments.

Silicon Carbide stands up well to acids and lyes, and has a low coefficient of thermal expansion rate – both qualities make it ideal for demanding industrial applications like kiln furniture, heating elements and high-voltage power semiconductors. Silicon Carbide plays a pivotal role in engineering solutions with efficient performance that are also sustainable; research will continue to push its limits. It will remain at the center of engineering innovations to come!

Corrosiebestendigheid

Silicon carbide stands out among ceramic materials as being exceptionally resistant to corrosion, making it suitable for various industrial applications. It stands up well to abrasion and erosion as well as chemical and thermal stresses.

Ceramic’s incredible hardness also makes it an excellent material for ballistic protection, such as when used in bulletproof vests as ceramic plates. Ceramic can serve as an effective alternative to more difficult materials like diamond or cubic boron nitride [97].

Silicon carbide in its pure state acts as an electrical insulator; when doped with impurities like aluminum, gallium, boron or nitrogen however it becomes an electric conductor with wide band-gap semiconductor properties.

Thermische geleidbaarheid

SiC is used in many different industries thanks to its attractive properties such as high hardness and thermal conductivity, making it a key component in power electronics enabling significant transformations across electric vehicle, 5G communication, solar power generation and aerospace sectors.

Silicon has a narrow bandgap semiconductor structure with higher electric field strength than that of silicon and superior electrical and thermal conductivity, as well as chemical inertness and corrosion resistance properties. Furthermore, germanium boasts excellent corrosion resistance properties.

SiC is an ideal refractory material, often employed for wear-resistant parts such as crucibles and burner nozzles, due to its wear resistance, wear resistance, hardness and deoxidizing qualities in steel production. Abrasives using SiC benefit from this hardness while deoxidization plays a key role in steel industry processes. SiC also acts as an ingredient for ceramic glazes made of glass and stoneware glazes although its granular texture makes crushing it in smaller ball mills challenging.

Elektrische geleidbaarheid

Silicon carbide is one of the lightest fine ceramic materials, yet one of the hardest. With outstanding thermal conductivity and abrasion resistance, chemical inertness, mechanical strength, low thermal expansion rates, and shock resistance properties; silicon carbide makes an essential material choice for industrial use.

Silicon carbide is an electrical semiconductor, meaning that it falls somewhere between metals (which conduct electricity) and insulators, in terms of electrical conductivity. Silicon carbide’s electrical conductivity depends on temperature and the impurities present within its structure; dopants such as boron and aluminum create an n-type semiconductor while nitrogen and phosphorus dopants give an p-type semiconductor effect.

SiC is well known for its use in bulletproof armor applications; hard ceramic blocks formed of SiC can resist rifled projectile penetration. Silicon carbide semiconductor devices often utilize it because it boasts higher breakdown field strengths than silicon devices and can also withstand higher temperatures than those manufactured from silicon-based materials, with Saint-Gobain being one of the primary providers of high performance power semiconductors based on SiC.