Synthesis of Silicon Carbide from Rice Husk in a dc Arc Plasma Reactor

SiC particles have been synthesized in the α‐phase from a mixture of boiler‐burnt rice husk and graphite powder in a dc extended arc plasma reactor on a 200–250 g scale. A SiC yield as high as 72% was achieved at a 3.03:1 carbon‐to‐silica ratio. 21R polytypism, which is rare to grow, was observed in the SiC. About 90% of the SiC particles produced were found to lie under 163 μm, 50% under 90 μm, and 10% under 28 μm size. Very fine particles under 10 μm size occurred to the extent of 3%. XRD and SEM characterizations were carried out to study the phase and morphology of the particles. Heterogeneous gas‐phase reactions seem to be responsible for intermediate‐size SiC particle growth in the multitemperature zone dc extended arc plasma reactor.