The oxidation behavior of ZrB2–ZrC composite nanofibers fabricated by electrospinning and carbothermal reduction

In this paper, ZrB 2 –ZrC composite nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning method followed by carbothermal reduction process. Nanofibers with ZrC content of 15, 35 and 50 wt%, respectively, were obtained by varying the n(B)/n(Zr) molar ratio. The oxidation resistance of fabricated nanofibers was investigated by the non-isothermal thermogravimetric method. The effect of ZrC content on the oxidation resistance of ZrB 2 –ZrC composite nanofibers was analyzed systematically. The Kissinger method was used to calculate the oxidative activation energy (E) of the fibers with different ZrC content. The results show that the E values of fiber with n(B)/n(Zr) equal to 2.5, 3.5 and 4 are 219, 362 and 275 kJ/mol. Among the prepared fibers, the fiber with n(B)/n(Zr) of 3.5 has the highest oxidative activation energy and the best oxidation resistance.