With the view to improve densification behaviour and mechanical properties of ZrB2-SiC ceramics, three synthesis routes were investigated for production ZrB2, prior fabrication ZrB2-20 vol. % SiC via spark plasma sintering (SPS). Two borothermal reduction routes, modified with a water-washing stage (BRW) partial solid solution Ti (BRS), utilised, alongside boro/carbothermal mechanism (BRCR) uti...

In-situ aluminum matrix composite is the innovation of high performance material technology and it has superior interfacial integrity and thermodynamic stability between the matrix and reinforcement. During synthesis, the ZrB2 particle is formed by exothermic reaction within the aluminum melt. As a result, small, fine and oxide free reinforcements are formed. Excessive temperature released from...

Zirconium Diboride (ZrB2) powder was synthesized at low temperature via a Direct Molten Salt Reaction (DMSR) method. The influence of different salt compositions including eutectic mixture of (KF-NaF), (KF-KCl) and (KCl-NaCl) on the morphology and purity of the reaction products was studied. The obtained samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD...

Reactive nanolaminates afford a promising route for the low-temperature synthesis of zirconium diboride, an ultrahigh-temperature ceramic with metallic properties. Although the addition of carbon is known to facilitate sintering of ZrB2, its effect on the kinetics of the formation reaction has not been elucidated. We have employed a combined approach of nanocalorimetry and first-principles theo...

The thermodynamics and kinetics of the solid-state alloying of Zr-B, underlying a variety of synthesis processes of the ultrahigh-temperature ceramic ZrB2, are widely unknown. We investigate the energetics, diffusion kinetics, and structural evolution of this system using first-principles computational methods. We identify the diffusion pathways in the interpenetrating network of interstitial s...

This work describes a process by which zirconium diboride (ZrB2) parts may be fabricated using the Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process. An oxide-carbide-nitride system consisting of ceramic powders and pre-ceramic organics, designed to yield ZrB2 after reaction sintering, has been developed to produce an aqueous-based extrudate for subsequent processing in the CODE system. Pressurelessly...

We measured the phonon dispersion of silicene (monolayer Si with a honeycomb lattice) on ZrB2(0 0 0 1) using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. The measured phonon dispersion was compared with ab initio density functional theory calculations for a silicene model with [Formula: see text] periodicity of the substrate. The most stable [Formula: see text] silicene structure, which i...

We report on syntheses and electron transport properties of polycrystalline samples of diborides (AB2) with different transition metals atoms (A=Zr,Nb,Ta). The temperature dependence of resistivity, ρ(T ), and ac susceptibility of these samples reveal superconducting transition of ZrB2 with Tc = 5.5 K, while NbB2 and TaB2 have been observed nonsuperconducting up to 0.37 K. Hc2 (T) is linear in ...