A novel electrolytic plasma spraying preparation SiO₂/SiC coating on carbon fiber fabric

A good quality of SiO₂/SiC coating was successfully fabricated on carbon fiber fabric by a novel electrolytic plasma spraying method, where Na₂SiO₃·9H₂O aqueous solution was used as an electrolyte. In this study, we discussed the effect of spraying distance on the coating. The microstructure and composition coating were characterized by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy and XPS, respectively. An effective coating can be easily prepared within several tens of seconds through this approach by adjusting the spraying distance. Results show that the sample oxidation resistance temperature was up to 1000 °C while the spraying distance was 15 mm, and tensile strength increased by 73 MPa after heat treatment at 900 °C for 20 min. The study provides additional insights into the feasibility of modification of carbon fiber fabric. Meanwhile, this method can be expected to extend to the fabrication of other oxide coatings or the modification of the surfaces of other complicated and/or large-scale easily oxidized materials.