Silicon Carbide Uses

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an extremely hard material with numerous uses. You might come across SiC in high-performance “ceramic” brake discs for cars or even as ceramic plates for bulletproof vests.

Moissanite occurs naturally as a rare mineral, yet has been mass produced as powder since 1893 for use as an abrasive. Furthermore, its use as an essential component in semiconductor electronics that operate under extreme temperatures and voltage conditions.

High-temperature refractories

Silicon carbide refractories are high-performance materials with outstanding strength, corrosion resistance, and thermal shock stability. Available in bricks or linings form, silicon carbide refractories are used in applications like high temperature applications such as molten salts and acidic slag production; their special feature being their resistance to softening up to 15000 C in temperatures as high as the latter’s melting point (black silicon carbide [SiC] being the raw material used for these refractories).

Silicon Carbide, commonly referred to by its chemical formula SiC, is an extremely hard synthetically produced crystalline compound composed of silicon and carbon that occurs naturally as the rare mineral moissanite; however, mass production began in 1893 for use as abrasives and wear-resistant parts in industry and rocket engines; additionally it serves as a semiconductor substrate in light emitting diodes (LED).

Silicon carbide refractories bonded with clay are an ideal choice for use in high-temperature applications, as the bonding process ensures structural integrity at high temperatures while resisting acids and other corrosive materials. Furthermore, these relatively inexpensive refractories have proven extremely durable over time; often testing using steam corrosion tests (photographing, weighing and measuring test specimens before being exposed to steam for 500 hours to see how well they perform under such extreme pressures and temperatures).

Wear-resistant parts

Silicon carbide can be used for an array of wear-resistant applications. Due to its superior strength, hardness, durability, resistance to chemical attack and temperature resistance, silicon carbide makes an excellent material to combat steel and metallurgical alloy wear, making it suitable for replacing metal rollers or parts in steel rolling mills, sand pumps, hydrocyclones, crushers or cylinder liner tubes.

Electroless plating offers another advantage; this allows it to be applied more consistently without creating inconsistencies typical of traditional nickel plating processes, ensuring sharp corners and recesses remain sharp without edge build-up, while thru-holes remain undisturbed and unaltered in almost any geometric configuration.

Silicon carbide stands out among electronic device materials for its superior temperature resistance and unique atomic structure, offering exceptional semiconductor properties that make it well suited for electronic device manufacturing. Its resistance to temperature variations is up to 10 times greater than silicon, the go-to material in semiconductor production, as well as thermal shock resistance and being capable of withstanding very high pressures. Silicon carbide is widely utilized as an important component in power semiconductors for high voltage generators and onboard chargers for hybrid and electric vehicle charging systems as well as being used as a replacement for expensive but environmentally hazardous lithium batteries.

Semiconductor devices

Silicon carbide in its pure form acts as an electrical insulator; but when modified with impurities or doping agents, its electrical conductivity changes to exhibit semi-conduction properties, not permitting free current to flow but not repelling it either. These semi-conductivity features make silicon carbide suitable for creating electronic devices which amplify, switch, or convert signals in electric circuits.

Silicon carbide devices benefit from having a wide band-gap that allows them to operate at higher temperatures and frequencies than traditional semiconductors, making them suitable for industrial contexts and providing significant power efficiency gains compared with their silicon counterparts.

Silicon carbide power devices are widely utilized in rail transit systems to reduce energy losses and enhance load-carrying efficiency, while they’re also employed in solar inverters and energy storage devices to improve efficiency and reliability.

Silicon carbide market dynamics are ever-evolving, as new applications drive its expansion and demand. Applications include power electronics industry, automotive and aerospace. Silicon carbide market growth for power electronics is projected at over 27% by 2021 due to rising electric vehicle and 5G infrastructure demand along with fast charging stations; as a result, capacity expansion and investment into new technologies must take place to provide efficient power devices to support them.

Chemical processing

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an extremely hard, synthetically produced compound of silicon and carbon with a Mohs hardness rating of 9 and is almost as hard as diamond. SiC can be found used in applications ranging from abrasive machining processes such as sandblasting and grinding to wear-resistant parts for industrial furnaces, wear-resistant parts for light emitting diode production substrates and light emitting diodes (LED).

Refractories can also be used in composite materials, like those found in bulletproof vests. Their strength and durability allow them to withstand bullet impacts with high velocity while their low neutron cross-section rate protects it from radiation damage.

Reaction bonding and sintering can both be used to create SiC, each producing different microstructures in the final material. Reaction bonded SiC is produced by infiltrating compacts of mixtures of SiC and carbon with liquid silicon, which reacts with carbon to form more SiC particles that then bond the initial ones. Sintered SiC can also be produced using pure SiC powder mixed with non-oxide sintering aids and heated at elevated temperatures until solidification occurs.

American Elements offers an expansive selection of premium fused silica and carbide grains and powders suitable for applications in refractories, aerospace, automotive, chemical food industries as well as many others. Our advanced crushing, milling and classifying equipment enables us to produce these grains that exceed ANSI, FEPA and JIS standards.