Boron Carbide (B4C) Nanoparticles

Boron carbide (B₄C) is referred as the black diamond and ranks as the third hardest material with its nanoscale crystals termed as boron carbide nanoparticles having the intensified properties compared to those of bulky form. Boron carbide turns out to be even harder than diamond when it reaches the temperatures over 1300˚C. It has promising chemical resistance with large neutron-capture cross section. Boron carbide nanoparticles are employed in many areas on science and industry as abrasive tools and radiation protection. One of the most common and applications of boron nanoparticles is in high-performance body armor tiles produced specifically through hot pressing. As the grain size increase in crystalline materials, the hardness and yield stress increase considerably. Therefor, the nanoscale boron carbide can have even intensified properties when the particles size falls into nanoscale. Born carbide nanoparticles can be synthesized according to several methods carbon thermal rout of boron oxide, BCl₃ reduction using methane at temperatures over 1500˚C with laser, magnesiothermic reduction of B₂O₃ at 1000– 1200˚C and direct reaction of carbon with boron.