Silicon Carbide, commonly referred to as Carborundum, can be found naturally in moissanite. As one of the hardest synthetic materials, SiC can be manufactured through various advanced processes.
SiC is an extremely hard ceramic material, used as the basis for long-lasting abrasives, ceramics, and refractories. Additionally, SiC exhibits wide band gap semiconductor properties.
Abrasive
Silicon carbide blasting media is an extremely hard material (9 on the Mohs scale), angular blasting media used for etching, rock tumbling, sandblasting and other uses. Offering versatility and durability at a lower cost than diamond or boron carbide options. Also used for grinding nonferrous materials, finishing tough or hard materials as well as ceramic parts as well as filling refractory components.
Silicon carbide grit’s narrow, sharp edges enable it to easily cut glass, plastics and medium-density fiberboard with minimal pressure, though metals or hardwoods cannot be cut as easily. While the material itself is less durable than brown fused aluminum oxide (BAO), silicon carbide grit offers many more blast cycles for its cost.
Workers who rely heavily on sandblasting abrasives run the risk of diffuse interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (DIPF), an incurable lung condition that scars, similar to that of silicosis.
Chemical
Silicon carbide is one of the hardest known materials, competing directly with diamond and boron carbide in terms of hardness and strength, yet remaining nonreactive to chemicals.
Silicon carbide is produced through chemical reduction of silica with carbon at high temperatures in electric furnaces, typically using high pressure methods. Silicon carbide occurs naturally as moissanite gem material first discovered at Canyon Diablo meteor crater in Arizona in 1893; however, today most silicon carbide used is synthetically produced.
Reaction-bonded silicon carbide (synthetic carborundum) consists of powdered silicon carbidie combined with an inorganic binder such as graphite, tetraethyl silane or methyl trichlorosilane to form a green body that can be pressurized, extruded or injection molded to make solid parts. Reaction-bonded SiC is nonreactive to acids or alkalis while withstanding temperatures up to 1600degC.
Electrical
Silicon carbide’s superior switching efficiency and temperature stability enable smaller, faster devices that withstand higher voltages than those made with other semiconductor materials such as silicon.
Prior to 1929 when boron carbide was discovered, silicon carbide (often abbreviated SiC) was widely recognized as the hardest known synthetic material and widely utilized on an industrial level as an abrasive. Furthermore, SiC was employed for use as refractory linings in furnaces, wear resistant parts in pumps and rocket engines, semiconducting substrates for light emitting diodes, as refractory heating elements for furnaces, wear-resistant parts in pumps and rocket engines as well as semiconducting substrates to light emitting diodes.
Though some natural silica-carbon compounds, like moissanite, exist naturally, most SiC is synthetically created. Edward Goodrich Acheson first invented SiC in 1891 while searching for ways to produce artificial diamonds using an electric furnace process that remains mostly unchanged today – by mixing silica sand and carbon in an electric furnace, Acheson reduced silica-carbon compounds into an artificial diamond material.
Heat Exchangers
Silicon carbide is widely utilized in electrical devices to provide an energy gap for electrons, enabling electronics to function at higher temperatures, voltages and frequencies than would otherwise be achievable with other semiconductor materials.
Silicon Carbide boasts an exceptionally high melting point, making it highly resistant to thermal shock. As this ceramic material is also extremely hard and strong, this makes it the ideal material choice for use in extreme conditions such as heat exchangers.
Washington Mills offers CARBOREX(r) silicon carbide in various chemistries and sizes to meet the requirements of numerous industries, including but not limited to; Abrasive Blasting, Anti-Slip Abrasives, Ceramic Coated Abrasives, Grinding Wheels, Cutting Tools, Refractories as well as other applications. Our team is here to assist with exploring all possibilities that await your application!
Wear Parts
Silicon carbide is a ceramic material with exceptional thermomechanical characteristics, including hardness, thermal conductivity, resistance to wear, corrosion and oxidation resistance and wear resistance. These qualities have made silicon carbide suitable for mechanical seals, structural ceramics, heat exchangers and even ballistic armour applications.
Beginning as an abrasive in the 1800s, aluminum oxide has long been employed in industry. Now precision machined, its use ranges from making bulletproof vests and cutting glass for window replacement projects to rocket engines. Due to its hardness, toughness, and low friction coefficient it makes an excellent material choice for grinding and cutting operations.
Silicon carbide stands out with its superior strength at high temperatures, chemical stability and corrosion resistance – qualities which make it suitable for furnace components and thermal barrier coatings. Furthermore, its low thermal expansion and high thermal conductivity enable it to handle thermal shock better than its rival material tungsten carbide; additionally its band gap makes silicon carbide suitable for high voltage semiconductor devices.
Graphene
Researchers from Federal University of Uberlandia (UFU) have developed an effective means of manipulating the concentration and flow of electrical charges within graphene sheets on silicon carbide substrates. Their study, published in Physica E journal, verified that adding metallic monolayers at graphene/oxide interface can modulate both positive (holes) and negative charge carriers (electrons).
This study involved the growth of high-quality graphene on SiC’s polar face using confinement controlled sublimation. The resultant material has excellent electrical properties, making it suitable for next-generation electronics applications.
Graphene boasts unique physical properties, such as its large surface area, low weight, and transparency. Unfortunately, its agglomeration and nonhomogeneous distribution limits its application as reinforcement filler in polymer composites; chemical functionalization offers one way around these limitations to expand graphene’s use in polymer matrix applications.
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