Synthesis of silicon carbide using concentrated solar energy

L. G. Ceballos-Mendivil, R. E. Cabanillas-López, J. C. Tánori-Córdova, R. Murrieta-Yescas, C. A. Pérez-Rábago, H. I. Villafán-Vidales, C. A. Arancibia-Bulnes, C. A. Estrada*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) has been prepared successfully using concentrated solar energy provided by the IER-UNAM solar furnace. This has led to the development of a low CO2 emissions process for the production of this material via carbothermic reduction of a silica/carbon (SiO2/C) nanocomposite, which has shown a more reactive carbon for formation of composite, being more thermally stable. Silica (obtained by a sol-gel process) and sucrose were used as precursors of silicon and carbon, respectively, at a temperature of 700°C in controlled atmosphere (nitrogen) for the formation of the SiO2/C composite. This composite was used in a second step to obtain SiC at a temperature of 1500°C, in argon atmosphere. The experimental setup used a Pyrex® glass spherical vessel designed to work with concentrated solar power and controlled atmospheres. The structure and morphology of the solar obtained SiC were analyzed with FTIR, XRD, TGA/DSC, SEM and TEM techniques. Results show that it is feasible to use concentrated solar energy for the synthesis of SiC. The solar SiC obtained is nanostructured and is mainly β-SiC.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)238-246
Number of pages9
JournalSolar Energy
Volume116
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords

  • Concentrated solar energy
  • SiO<inf>2</inf>/C composite
  • Silicon carbide
  • Solar SiC
  • Solar furnace

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