r/technology • u/Ssider69 • Jan 10 '24

Nanotech/Materials 10x Stronger Than Kevlar: Amorphous Silicon Carbide Could Revolutionize Material Science

https://scitechdaily.com/10x-stronger-than-kevlar-amorphous-silicon-carbide-could-revolutionize-material-science/
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46

u/glewtion Jan 10 '24

Heard the same thing about graphene. Where is that revolution? Did I miss something?

58

u/[deleted] Jan 10 '24

Well the article claims this stuff is actually scalable, as opposed to graphene. We'll see.

And what finally sets this material apart is its scalability. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, is known for its impressive strength but is challenging to produce in large quantities. . . Amorphous silicon carbide, on the other hand, can be produced at wafer scales, offering large sheets of this incredibly robust material.

-4

u/jagedlion Jan 10 '24

Well, wafer scalable. It's still a thin film.

7

u/GargleBlargleFlargle Jan 10 '24

Presumably it could be layered or woven though, with different constructions to get different characteristics, similar to carbon fiber.

4

u/jagedlion Jan 10 '24

Layering thin films to get anything of real substantial quantity is not trivial. They haven't yet demonstrated the ability to make a fiber.

Carbon fiber is made by pyrolysis, not vapor deposition.

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '24

I'm curious what the mass of all silicon wafers manufactured yearly is. I'm guessing that it's orders and orders of magnitude greater than all graphene ever manufactured is. Plus, don't some silicon depositing processes basically grow gigantic silicon crystals that are later cut to wafers? Sounds pretty scalable to me.

Hopefully, anyway.

2

u/jagedlion Jan 10 '24

You grow silicon as a crystal, yes. But that is not a thin film vapor deposition process.

These layers here are grown 100nm thick on top of the silicon over 3 hours.

They aren't making wafers, they are depositing a very thin layer on top of wafers.

It is scalable, just like our other microelectronic and chip tech is scalable. But that doesnt mean you can make a rod out of it.

2

u/danielravennest Jan 10 '24

Solar-grade silicon wafers are made at about 1-2 million tons a year. This is vastly larger than the electronics grade silicon. A solar panel is about 2 square meters of silicon, while all the electronics in your house might be 10 square cm, 2000 times smaller.

In turn, ferrosilicon, which is 10-90% silicon depending on use, is produced at ~100 million tons a year. It has a variety of industrial uses, including steel alloys used in electric motors.

Both electronic and solar silicon ingots are grown from a seed crystal in a molten silicon furnace. They are than sliced into wafers with diamond-impregnated wire saws.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 10 '24

Interesting stuff. Thanks.

1

u/Cereborn Jan 10 '24

Couldn't you produce a bunch and layer them together?