Improved durability of Si/B/N/C random inorganic networks

The inherent high temperature durability as well as the hardness of random inorganic networks composed of Si, B, N and C, can be raised through the incorporation of rigid structural elements (e.g. borazine rings) as well as through an increase of the carbon content. This has been shown by comparison of the high temperature durabilities and micromechanical properties of newly synthesized Si/B/N/C ceramics derived from different acyclic and cyclic single source precursors. Crosslinking of these specially designed monomers with methylamine provides highly homogeneous preceramic polymers, in which the predetermined structural features of the molecular precursors are embedded. Subsequent pyrolysis and calcination up to 1500 °C converts the polymers into all-inorganic amorphous silicon boron carbonitrides. Depending on the constitution of the precursors, the as-obtained materials exhibit a combination of a high carbon content together with borazine rings embedded into the covalent network. Comparing the high temperature stability, hardness and stiffness of the synthesized ceramics, the best performance is achieved when carbon rich borazine derivatives are employed as single source precursors. Thus, the high temperature durability can be raised up to at least 2000 °C, and, at the same time, the microhardness and elastic modulus is maximized up to 14.5 and 127 GPa, respectively. The new materials have been characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, XRD, SEM, DTA/TG, and by nanoindentation.