Rapid Fabrication of Cf/ZrB2-SiC Composites with Multifunctional Properties via Aqueous Injection-Assisted Vacuum Impregnation

• • Aqueous slurry-based IVI (CHS) achieved a ZrB2 phase volume fraction of 25 vol.% after a single cycle, a 47% increase over phenolic/acetone-based CPS, while cutting processing time by 49%, directly addressing the low ceramic loading bottleneck of conventional IVI. • • After CVI, CVI-CHS exhibited a room-temperature compressive strength of 106.78±10.53 MPa, a 28% improvement over CVI-CPS, indicating enhanced load-bearing capability for thermal protection structures. • • Both composites displayed high strain tolerance (1.32%±0.018% for CVI-CHS and 1.07%±0.34% for CVI-CPS) with low flexural modulus (13.00±2.41 and 13.52±6.99 GPa), enabling damage tolerance under mechanical stress. • • CVI-CPS achieved superior X-band EMI shielding of 34–36 dB versus 22–27 dB for CVI-CHS, with both showing improved shielding up to 600°C, offering tunable electromagnetic functionality for aerospace applications.