Low Temperature Preparation of Mullite Whisker via Non-Hydrolytic Sol-Gel Process Combined with Molten Salt Method

Abstract

Mullite whisker was prepared at low temperature via non-hydrolytic sol-gel (NHSG) process combined with molten salt method. The influence of heat treatment temperature was studied on the morphology and the microstructure of whisker, and its growth mechanism was also described. The results show that the mullite whisker appears at the lowest temperature of 750 °C, and optimized mullite whisker can be prepared at 850 °C with the growth direction of [00, whose diameter is in the range of 170~300 nm with the aspect ratio of >30.