Studies on the Growth Mechanism and the Kinetics of Synthesizing SiC Whiskers by VLS Process

SiC whiskers （SiC_W） synthesized from rice hulls and growth kinetics via VLS process are studied.The formation reaction of SiO from SiO₂ and C at high temperature is the rate-determing step in SiC_W synthesis process.Under the effect of whisker-formation-catalyst,the growth rate of SiC_W is directly proportional to the concentration of SiO near the melten phase of the catalyst.The selectivity of the catalyst for growing SiC_W increased with the temperature.The composite catalyst enhances the reaction rate and the selectivity forg rowing SiC_W.