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Formation Mechanism of SiC in the Diffusion Couple Interface during the MG-Si Production Process

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Abstract

SiC is an important intermediate product in the production process of metallurgical-grade silicon (MG-Si), and is of great significance for the improvement of the efficiency of MG-Si production. In this study, the formation mechanism of SiC is revealed via an experimental system of a silica-charcoal diffusion couple. The phase transition and microscopic characteristics of the contact interface of the diffusion couple indicate that SiC forms on the carbon side, while the silica side is eroded. The element distribution characteristics of the reaction cross-section reveal that SiC forms inside the carbon along the longitudinal direction. Via the combination of thermodynamic calculation and experimental analysis, the formation mechanisms of SiC on the surface and inside the carbon are confirmed; the SiC on the surface is formed by both one-step and two-step reactions, while the internal SiC is formed only by a two-step reaction. Moreover, increasing the temperature is found to be beneficial to the formation of SiC, and the thickness of the SiC layer increased from 130 to 135 μm with the increase of the temperature from 1673 K to 1773 K. SiO is found to be the key intermediate of the two-step reaction. The prevention of the escape of SiO has great significance for the reduction of the costs and the increase of the yield of MG-Si production.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this paper.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge that this study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1902219), the Yunnan Young and Middle-aged Academic and Technical Leader Reserve Talent Project (Grant No. 2018HB009), the Yunnan Outstanding Youth Science Foundation (Grant No. 202101AV070007), and the Major Science and Technology Projects in Yunnan Province (Grant Nos. 2019ZE007 and 202002AB080002).

Funding

Funding was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1902219), the Yunnan Young and Middle-aged Academic and Technical Leader Reserve Talent Project (Grant No. 2018HB009), the Yunnan Outstanding Youth Science Foundation (Grant No. 202101AV070007), and the Major Science and Technology Projects in Yunnan Province (Grant Nos. 2019ZE007 and 202002AB080002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Vacuum Metallurgy/Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Dongling Liu, Xiaocong Deng, Jinsong Tai, Shicong Yang, Kuixian Wei & Wenhui Ma

  2. State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Kuixian Wei & Wenhui Ma

Authors
  1. Dongling Liu
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  2. Xiaocong Deng
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  3. Jinsong Tai
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  4. Shicong Yang
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  5. Kuixian Wei
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  6. Wenhui Ma
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Contributions

Dongling Liu: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Validation, Data curation, Writing–original draft, Writing–review & editing;

Xiaocong Deng: Resources, Data Curation, Resources, Visualization;

Jinsong Tai: Investigation, Resources, Visualization;

Shicong Yang: Investigation, Resources, Visualization;

Kuixian Wei: Supervision, Funding acquisition;

Wenhui Ma: Supervision, Funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kuixian Wei.

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Liu, D., Deng, X., Tai, J. et al. Formation Mechanism of SiC in the Diffusion Couple Interface during the MG-Si Production Process. Silicon 14, 11371–11380 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-022-01876-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-022-01876-4

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