**2. Experimental Procedure**

#### *2.1. Materials and Deposition of Coatings*

NextelTM440 fiber fabrics (BF-30, 3M, St. Paul, MN, USA) were employed as the sample for deposited coating. The fiber, with a diameter of about 11 μm, was composed of Al2O3 (70 wt.%), SiO2 (28 wt.%) and B2O3 (2 wt.%) [15]. Methyltrichlorosilane (MTS, CH3SiCl3) was used as the SiC precursor, with hydrogen as carrier gas and argon as diluent and protective gas, respectively. As shown in Figure 1, the deposition process of SiC coating was carried out in a hot-wall vertical reactor. Prior to the deposition, the fiber fabrics were desized, ultrasonically cleaned in acetone and dried in an oven. The deposition was performed at 1373 K under a total pressure of 5.0 kPa, with hydrogen and argon flow rates of 200 and 75 sccm, respectively. The coatings were deposited for 1, 2 and 4 h, respectively.

**Figure 1.** Deposition process of SiC coatings on NextelTM440 fibers.
