To improve the anti-oxidation ability of silicon-based coating for carbon/carbon (C/C) composites at high temperatures, a ZrB₂ modified silicon-based multilayer oxidation protective coating was prepared by pack cementation. The phase composition, microstructure and oxidation resistance at 1773, 1873 and 1953 K in air were investigated. The prepared coating exhibits dense structure and good oxidation protective ability. Due to the formation of stable ZrSiO₄-SiO₂ compound, the coating can effectively protect C/C composites from oxidation at 1773 K for more than 550 h. The anti-oxidation performance decreases with the increase of oxidation temperature. The mass loss of coated sample is 2.44% after oxidation at 1953 K for 50 h, which is attributed to the decomposition of ZrSiO₄ and the volatilization of SiO₂ protection layer.

In order to protect C/C composites from oxidation, SiC-MoSi₂ composite coating was synthesized by chemical vapor infiltration /reaction (CVI/CVR) technology. A porous Mo layer was prefabricated on SiC coated C/C composites, and then MoSi₂ and SiC were subsequently prepared in a CVI /CVR process using methyltrichlorosilane (MTS) as precursor. The deposition and reaction mechanism of the MoSi₂-SiC composite coating was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The oxidation behavior of SiC-MoSi₂ coated specimens was tested. The results show that the porous Mo layer can be densified with SiC phase decomposed from MTS, and transformed into SiC-MoSi₂ by reacting with MTS as well. A dense composite coating was prepared with optimized deposition parameters. The coated specimen exhibits a good oxidation resistance with a little mass loss of 1.25% after oxidation at 1500 °C for 80 h.

To improve the oxidation resistance of C/C composites, a double SiC protective coating was prepared by a two-step technique. Firstly, the inner SiC layer was prepared by a pack cementation technique, and then an outer uniform and compact SiC coating was obtained by low pressure chemical vapor deposition. The microstructures and phase compositions of the coatings were characterized by SEM, EDS and XRD analyses. Oxidation behaviour of the SiC coated C/C composites was also investigated. It was found that the double SiC coating could protect C/C composites against oxidation at 1773 K in air for 178 h with a mass loss of 1.25%. The coated samples also underwent thermal shocks between 1773 K and room temperature 16 times. The mass loss of the coated C/C composites was only 2.74%. Double SiC layer structures were uniform and dense, and can suppress the generation of thermal stresses, facilitating an excellent anti-oxidation coating.

To improve the oxidation resistance of carbon/carbon (C/C) composites in air at high temperatures, a SiC- MoSi₂/ZrO₂-MoSi₂ coating was prepared on the surface of C/C composites by pack cementation and slurry method. The microstructures and phase compositions of the coated C/C composites were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The result shows that the SiC-MoSi₂/ZrO₂-MoSi₂ coating is dense and crack-free with a thickness of 250-300 μm. The preparation and the high temperature oxidation property of the coated composites were investigated. The as-received coating has excellent oxidation protection ability and can protect C/C composites from oxidation for 260 h at 1773 K in air. The excellent anti-oxidation performance of the coating is considered to come from the formation of ZrSiO₄, which improves the stability of the coating at high temperatures.

C/SiC/MoSi₂-SiC-Si oxidation protective multilayer coating for carbon/carbon (C/C) composites was prepared by pack cementation and slurry method. The microstructure, element distribution and phase composition of the as-received coating were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the multilayer coating was composed of MoSi₂, SiC and Si. It could effectively protect C/C composites against oxidation for 200 h with the mass loss of 3.25% at 1873 K in static air. The mass loss of the coated C/C composites results from the volatilization of SiO₂ and the formation of cracks and bubble holes in the coating.

To improve the oxidation resistance of boron-modified carbon foams, the B₂O₃ coating was prepared on boron-modified carbon foams by low-cost slurry method. The microstructures and phase compositions of the coated carbon foams were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. Oxidation resistances of uncoated and coated boron-modified carbon foams were investigated at 873 K in air. The results showed that as-received B₂O₃ coating could protect boron-modified carbon foams from oxidation at 873 K. B₂O₃-coated carbon foam doped with 7% B₂O₃ (mass fraction) (BO-7) had better oxidation resistance, exhibiting mass loss of 17.40% after oxidation at 873 K for 120 min. The melting glass layer formed on the surface of BO-7 could prevent oxygen from diffusing into boron-modified carbon foams substrate during oxidation to some extent.

Short carbon fiber felts with an initial porosity of 89.5% were deposited by isobaric, isothermal chemical vapor infiltration using natural gas as carbon source. The bulk density of the deposited carbon/carbon (C/C) composites was 1.89 g/cm³ after depositing for 150 h. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the C/C composites were studied by polarized light microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and three-point bending test. The results reveal that high textured pyrolytic carbon is deposited as the matrix of the composites, whose crystalline thickness and graphitization degree highly increase after heat treatment. A distinct decrease of the flexural strength and modulus accompanied by the increase of the toughness of the C/C composites is found to be correlated with the structural changes in the composites during the heat treatment process.

Laminated carbon fiber clothes were infiltrated to prepare carbon fiber reinforced pyrolytic carbon (C/C) using isothermal chemical vapor infiltration (CVI). The bending fatigue behavior of the infiltrated C/C composites was tested under two different stress levels. The residual strength and modulus of all fatigued samples were tested to investigate the effect of maximum stress level on fatigue behavior of C/C composites. The microstructure and damage mechanism were also investigated. The results showed that the residual strength and modulus of fatigued samples were improved. High stress level is more effective to increase the modulus. And for the increase of flexural strength, high stress level is more effective only in low cycles. The fatigue loading weakens the bonding between the matrix and fiber, and then affects the damage propagation pathway, and increases the energy consumption. So the properties of C/C composites are improved.

Using natural gas as carbon source, 2D needle felt as preform, 2D-C/C composites were prepared by thermal gradient chemical vapor infiltration. Their microstructures were observed under polarized light microscope (PLM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the flexural behaviors before and after heat-treatment were studied with a universal mechanical testing machine. The fracture mechanism of the composites was discussed in detail. The results show that, carbon matrix exhibits pure smooth laminar (SL) characteristic including numerous wrinkled layered structures and some inter-laminar micro-cracks. With the decreasing density, the strength of the composites decreases and the toughness increases slightly; after 2500 °C heat-treatment, the inter-laminar micro-cracks in matrix increase, the strength decreases, and the toughness obviously increases. The fracture mode of the composites changes from brittle to pseudo-plastic characteristic due to more crack deflections in SL matrix.