AbstractRefractory carbide nanostructured ceramics as SiC constitute interesting materials for high temperature applications and particularly for fourth generation nuclear plants. To elaborate such nanomaterials, weighable amounts of SiC nanopowders have to be synthesized first with an accurate control of the grain size and stoichiometry. The inductively coupled plasma and the laser pyrolysis techniques, respectively developed at EMPA Thun and CEA Saclay, allow meeting these requirements. Both techniques are able to produce dozens of grams per hour of silicon carbide nanopowders. The particle size can be adjusted down to around 20 nm for the plasma synthesis and even down to 5-10 nm for the laser pyrolysis. The stoichiometry Si/C can be tuned by the addition of methane into the plasma and acetylene for the laser process.
