Effect of Pyrolysis Temperature on Microwave Heating Properties of Oxidation-Cured Polycarbosilane Powder

Silicon carbide (SiC) has excellent mechanical and chemical properties and is used in a wide range of applications. It has the characteristic of rapidly heating up to several hundred degrees within one minute when irradiated with microwave radiation at 2.45 GHz. In this study, we investigated the oxidation curing process and microwave heating properties of polycarbosilane (PCS). A PCS disk-shaped green body was fabricated via uniaxial pressure molding. Silicon carbide was prepared by varying the pyrolysis temperature, and the heating characteristics of the microwaves were evaluated. The results showed that the samples pyrolyzed at 1300 °C after oxidation curing for 2 h at 180 °C rapidly heated up to 802 °C within 1 min, and the temperature remained constant for 120 min. The maximum temperature of the samples pyrolyzed at 1500 °C was relatively low, but the rate of heating was the highest. The microstructures and crystal structures of the microwaves as a function of the pyrolysis temperature were investigated.