Pyrocarbon Whisker Growth on the Catalytic Mullite Substrate by the Pyrolysis of Methane

  • Received : 2005.01.05
  • Accepted : 2005.06.14
  • Published : 2005.06.30

Abstract

Like bamboo-sprouts after rains, numerous sub${\mu}m$-sized pyrocarbon whiskers growth on the Mullite ($3Al_2O_3{\cdot}2H_2O$) substrate could be observed through a looking glass during methane pyrolysis at the temperature of $1050^{\circ}C$ in this study. If the surface of substrate would be scrubbed strongly with iron metals, then finely sticked iron particles were more effective catalytic for nm-sized whisker growth. Numerous fine flakes of pyrolytic carbon were hanging by invisible nm-whiskers as like as small spiders hanging by a spiderweb. This is the identification of nm-sized whisker growth. Therefore if the pyrolysis would be stopped at the initial stage of the whisker growth, the primary lengthening growth was nm-sized whisker. So could we vary arbitrarily sizes of whisker from nm- to ${\mu}m$-sizes. But ${\mu}m$- and nm-whiskers grown with the different growth mechanism; the former was straight and the latter has twigs, The lengthening growth of whisker was depended on the flow pattern pyrolysis species on the active sites of substrate and on the growth duration. We could obtained straight whisker length of 10~20 ${\mu}m$/min during the primary growth and laboratory spiral whisker of 30~40 ${\mu}m$-diameter/hr during the secondary growth.

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