Abstract
The densification behavior of transition metal diboride compounds was reviewed with emphasis on ZrB2 and HfB2. These compounds are considered ultra-high temperature ceramics because they have melting temperatures above 3000°C. Densification of transition metal diborides is difficult due to their strong covalent bonding, which results in extremely high melting temperatures and low self-diffusion coefficients. In addition, oxide impurities present on the surface of powder particles promotes coarsening, which further inhibits densification. Studies prior to the 1990s predominantly used hot pressing for densification. Those reports revealed densification mechanisms and identified that oxygen impurity contents below about 0.5 wt% were required for effective densification. Subsequent studies have employed advanced sintering methods such as spark plasma sintering and reactive hot pressing to produce materials with nearly full density and higher metallic purity. Further studies are needed to identify fundamental densification mechanisms and further improve the elevated temperature properties of transition metal diborides.
Recommended Citation
W. Fahrenholtz et al., "Densification of Ultra-Refractory Transition Metal Diboride Ceramics," Science of Sintering, vol. 52, no. 1, International Institute for the Science of Sintering (IISS), Jan 2020.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.2298/SOS2001001F
Department(s)
Materials Science and Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Densification; Hot pressing; Sintering; Transition metal diborides
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0350-820X; 1820-7413
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2020 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2020
Comments
Support for this project was provided by the Enabling Materials for Extreme Environments signature area at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Financial support for WGF and GEH was also provided by the Office of Naval Research through contract number N00014-16-1-2303 .