Characterisation of Silicon Carbide from Dark Red Meranti Wood

Porous biomorphic silicon carbide is a promising ceramic materials for used in wide variety of applications especially in filtration and separation. Wood derived silicon carbide retains the heterogeneous structure of initial wood. Silicon carbide ceramic was derived from Dark Red Meranti wood precursor in this study. The derivation process was prepared by reaction between liquid silicon and carbon preform. The carbon preform was obtained via pyrolysis process at 850 °C in Argon gas flow atmosphere. This process was followed by Si infiltration at 1500 °C for different holding hours. The density was determined using Archimedes method. SEM was performed to observe their microstructures while the compositions and phase analysis were analysed by EDX and XRD respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that a major weight loss of about 60% of carbon perform due to the decomposition of cellulose and lignin.XRD results revealed the presence of SiC and excess of silicon. It was found that conversion efficiency of carbon into SiC has been improved when the holding time was increased.