What is Silicon Carbide?

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an extremely hard material measured on the Mohs scale, first discovered as a transparent mineral known as moissanite in Arizona’s Canyon Diablo meteor crater in 1893.

Ceramic fibers are created by placing silica sand and coke into an electrical resistance-type furnace and heated at high resistance levels until their composition transforms into ceramic fibre. Ceramic fibres serve multiple functions – they’re refractory, abrasive and semiconductor properties all at the same time!

It is a non-oxide ceramic

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a crystalline material composed of silicon and carbon that ranks as one of the hardest materials available, cut only with diamond-tipped blades. Mohs scale rating 9 indicates this hard substance’s use in industrial abrasives such as sandpaper and grinding wheels; additionally it’s often included as part of refractory linings for furnaces, wear-resistant parts for pumps and rocket engines, semiconductor substrates used for light emitting diodes and even semiconductor substrates for light emitting diodes.

SiC’s high breakdown voltage capability makes it an ideal component for electric vehicle inverters, helping reduce size and weight of battery management systems, while increasing driving range by improving system efficiency. Furthermore, SiC offers more stable performance at higher temperatures without needing active cooling systems compared to IGBTs and bipolar transistors, which produce significant switching losses that generate heat that limits their operating temperatures.

It is an abrasive

Silicon carbide abrasive material is an extremely hard and sharp material used for sandblasting paint or coatings from surfaces. Silicon carbide also serves as an excellent material to be used on cutting tools such as saw blades and drill bits – and its prices make it one of the more cost-effective abrasives out there.

Aluminum oxide abrasives are capable of cutting glass, plastic and medium-density fiberboard with light pressure; however, they cannot cut metals or hardwoods as efficiently due to a narrower grain shape that makes it more brittle and wears down faster than their aluminum oxide counterparts.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an extremely hard chemical compound of silicon and carbon with the formula SiC. While naturally found in moissanite minerals, since 1893 mass production as powder for use as an abrasive has taken place. Once fused together by sintering it can also form extremely durable ceramics used in applications requiring high endurance such as car brakes, clutches or bulletproof vest plates.

It is a refractory

Silicon carbide is an inert synthetic material commonly used for sandpaper and grinding wheels, boasting an exceptionally high melting point that makes it suitable for very hot temperatures as a refractory material. Furthermore, its very hard and wear-resistant surface boasts excellent thermal shock resistance as well.

Chemical inertness makes this material resistant to acids and alkalis, as well as wear-induced erosion and wear-on-wear damage, making it suitable for use in refractory castables. Furthermore, its thermal stability allows it to tolerate extremes in temperature as well as cold and humidity conditions.

The manufacturing process for refractories of this invention comprises mixing a body of silica-alumina type refractory compound with fine aluminum powder, molding and drying to produce a green body before firing in an atmosphere predominantly comprised of carbon oxide gas. During this step, silica in the compound is reduced to metallic silicon while simultaneously carbonized into corundum and silicon carbide in parts of its bonding structure.

It is a semiconductor

Silicon Carbide (SiC) has recently emerged as an indispensable technological material, thanks to its superior properties in high temperature applications like power electronics. SiC’s ability to withstand higher voltages without compromising reliability could even see it replace silicon in electric vehicle battery applications.

SiC is an extremely hard synthetic crystalline compound of silicon and carbon with an extremely hard Mohs hardness rating of 9, second only to diamond on Earth. As well as being hard, SiC also acts as a semiconductor with conductivity somewhere between metals and insulators due to having a large electronic bandgap that can be adjusted using polytype structures.

This wide-bandgap makes germanium an excellent material choice for high-speed transistors, and its ability to handle very high temperatures means it is an attractive alternative to silicon in high performance electric vehicles as a promising way of reducing energy-intensive cooling systems which add weight and complexity.