Hard stoichiometric WB4 is synthesized under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions.

Synthesis, crystal structure, and properties of stoichiometric hard tungsten tetraboride, WB4

Boron-rich tungsten borides such as WB2+x and WB3+x have been highly expected to be superhard with many advantages over conventional superhard materials. However, because the formation of boron-rich tungsten borides is thermodynamically unfavorable at ambient pressure, their crystal structures, compositions, and properties are largely unexplored, which have impeded the rational design of functional materials in the W-B family. In this work, using unique high-pressure reactions, we report a systematic synthesis study of challenging compounds of tungsten borides including WB, WB2+x, and WB3+x. The use of pressure, combined with the controllable temperature, heating duration, and ratios of starting reactants, leads to different compositions and structures of final products with largely tunable crystallite size from nanocrystalline to single-crystal forms. In addition, the optimal conditions for the formation of WB3+x are well investigated by tuning the temperature and starting ratio of reactants, as well as by adding a solvent material. Phase diagrams and stabilities of the involved W-B compounds are also well depicted, which would provide an important guidance for future exploratory synthesis and study of the family of transition-metal borides.

Synthesis, Phase Evolutions, and Stabilities of Boron-Rich Tungsten Borides at High Pressure.

We proposed an efficient method toward the synthesis of higher tungsten boride WB5-x in the vacuumless direct current atmospheric arc discharge plasma. The crystal structure of the synthesized samples of boron-rich tungsten boride was determined using computational techniques, showing a two-phase system. The ab initio calculations of the energies of various structures with similar X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns allowed us to determine the composition of the formed higher tungsten boride. We determined the optimal parameters of synthesis to obtain samples with 61.5% WB5-x by volume. The transmission electron microscopy measurements showed that 90% of the particles have sizes of up to 100 nm, whereas the rest of them may have sizes from 125 to 225 nm. Our study shows the possibility of using the proposed vacuumless method as an efficient and inexpensive way to synthesize superhard WB5-x without employing resource-consuming vacuum techniques.

Alexander V Filimonenko

Papers

Efficient Synthesis of WB5-x-WB2 Powders with Selectivity for WB5-x Content.