Controlling the Morphology and Oxidation Resistance of Boron Carbide Synthesized Via Carbothermic Reduction Reaction

• Published in: Journal of materials engineering and performance Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 1444 - 1454
• Main Authors: Ahmed, Yasser M. Z., El-Sheikh, Said M., Ewais, Emad M. M., Abd-Allah, Asmaa A., Sayed, Said A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2017
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Corrosion and Coatings; Engineering Design; Materials Science; Quality Control; Reliability; Safety and Risk; Tribology; chemical synthesis; carbides; ceramics; differential scanning calorimetry (DSC); microstructure
• ISSN: 1059-9495; 1544-1024
• DOI: 10.1007/s11665-017-2548-3

Boron carbide powder was synthesized from boric acid and lactose mixtures via easy procedure. Boric acid and lactose solution mixtures were roasted in stainless steel pot at 280 °C for 24 h. Boron carbide was obtained by heating the roasted samples under flowing of industrial argon gas at 1500 °C for 3 h. The amount of borate ester compound in the roasted samples was highly influenced by the boron/carbon ratio in the starting mixtures and plays a versatile role in the produced boron carbide. The high-purity boron carbide powder was produced with a sample composed of lowest boron/carbon ratio of 1:1 without calcination step. Particle morphology was changed from nano-needles like structure of 8-10 nm size with highest carbon ratio mixture to spherical shape of >150 nm size with lowest one. The oxidation resistance performance of boron carbide is highly dependent on the morphology and grain size of the synthesized powder.