Combustion synthesis of silicon carbide assisted by a magnesium plus polytetrafluoroethylene mixture

In this study, the use of SiC combustion synthesis for immobilization of 14C was considered. Due to the low exothermicity of the reaction between silicon and graphite, a highly exothermic mixture (magnesium and polytetrafluoroethylene) was used both as a chemical oven and activate additive in the mixture. With this configuration the reaction between graphite and silicon was initiated and propagated on the whole sample. The self-propagating high temperature synthesis samples were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction.