Oxidation of Graphene-modified HfB2-SiC Ceramics by Supersonic Dissociated Air Flow

Abstract The oxidation resistance of ultra-high-temperature ceramic material (HfB2-30 vol%SiC)-2 vol%rGO (rGO: reduced graphene oxide) under long-term exposure (2000s) to a supersonic air flow has been studied. The ceramics were obtained by reactive hot pressing of HfB2-(SiO2-C)-rGO composite powder at a temperature of 1800 °C (pressure 30 MPa, holding time 15 min, Ar). The surface temperature of graphene-modified ceramics under the influence of heating by high-enthalpy air flow (heat flow q reached 779 W⋅ cm–2) did not exceed 1700 °C, which is 650-700 °C less than for the HfB2-30 vol%SiC baseline ceramics. This may be related to an increase in the efficiency of heat transfer from the sample to the water-cooled module, due to the higher thermal conductivity of the rGO-containing material. Thereby, a decrease in the material degradation degree has been noted, i.e. decrease in the recession rate and decrease in the total thickness of the oxidised ceramic layer by tenth. The peculiarities of the oxidised surface and near-surface region microstructure upon aerodynamic heating of the graphene-modified ceramic material, have been shown.