Fabrication of β-SiC micropatterns from a facile replication process

Abstract

Fine-structured β-SiC ceramic patterns were successfully fabricated from a facile replication route using Si mold as the master structure, PVA as the binding agent and nanosized β-SiC powder as the raw material. After slurry deposition and drying, the patterns were integrally transferred from the Si mold to the coating samples. The intact micropatterns were maintained up to 1500°C without obvious shrinkage. The samples exhibit nearly net-sized feature of 1.7 µm after drying and sintering. This net-sized structure is a great advantage of β-SiC patterns over the counterparts of oxide ceramic materials. All samples are in nanosized porous structure with narrowly distributed pore sizes.