Boron carbide is widely utilized due to its exceptional properties. Boron boron is the second hardest mineral in terms of hardness, after diamond and cubic. You have many advantages with it, like a low melting point, high density, high strength. A broad neutron absorb cross-section is also a plus. This material can also be used for national defense, nuclear energy and wear-resistant tech.
In the present time, the primary way to industrially produce boron is by using carbothermal. Other practices for boron carbonide production include direct synthesis (sol-gel), mechanochemical way, thermal propagation, direct, indirect synthesis, and mechanochemical.
1. Carbothermal decrease
In order to achieve high temperature reduction in an electric-arc furnace, the carbothermal reduction process uses boric acids or boricanhydride as a raw material. The reducing agent is carbon. This method, currently, is the predominant method for industrial production boron-carbide.
Boric black and carbon noir were used to make the raw materials. For 0.5 to 1 hour, they were heated at 1700-1850. Close to the theoretical level, the carbon content reached 20.7%. These are the drawbacks of the method: they require a higher temperature which can consume a lot more energy; the boron caride production process is simple to agglomerate which must be crushed; and, it is mixed with unreacted CO which will need to be removed through subsequent treatment.
2. A self-propagating method for thermal reduction
This self-propagating thermal reduced method utilizes carbon black (or Coke) and boric acids (or Boric Anhydride) to make boron. It also uses active metal substance (usually mg), which is a reducing agent, or flux. Heat generated by the self propagating combustion reaction with metal substance can be used for synthesised boron. The following reaction equation can be used: 6mg+ C+ 2b2o3 =6mgo+B4C
This technique has numerous advantages including low initial reactions temperature (1000-1200 °C), fast reaction, easy to use equipment, and energy savings. B4C powder, synthesized by a process called “Synthesis”, is of high purity. The particle size ranges from 0.01 to 4.0 m. It generally doesn’t require any crushing.
Jiang et. al. utilized Na2B4O7/Mg, C, and B4C as raw materials. B4C powder prepared with a particle dimension of 0.6m using self-propagating thermique reduction. MgO emitted by this reaction is difficult to eliminate.
3. Mechanochemistry
Mechanochemical preparations use boron dioxide powder, graphite and magnesium as raw material. The rotating or vibrating ball mill makes the tougher ball milling medium impacts. Once the grinding and stirring has commenced, the temperature at which the chemical reaction is to be induced will be slightly higher that the room temperature. This is a promising way to make boron carbide powder.
Deng et al. B4C powder containing B2O3 was prepared according to the mechanochemical procedure. The C:Mg mass proportion of this B4C mixture is 10:1;11. The powder particle size was between 100-200nm. Yogurt, et. al. determined that 9:2 to 10:1 is the optimal Mg/C weight ratio. MgO (a byproduct) is hard to remove and often takes too long for ball milling.
4. Direct synthesis
Prepare direct boron cadmium by thoroughly mixing the boron or carbon powders, and reacting in an environment of either 1700-2100. You can be sure of high purity in boron-carbidide obtained by direct synthesis. Also, the process is simple to manage. However, the fabrication of boron carbide is difficult and costly. This process has limitations.
5. Sol-gel method
Sol-gel or Sol-gel refers the procedure of solidifying organic and/or metal alkoxides via the solution, sol and gel. They are then heated-treated to create stable compounds. This method offers advantages such as a more consistent mixture of raw materials, a lower reaction temperature and bulky products.
Sinha et al. In the pH range of 84-122, mix the boric and citric acids. The result is a transparent and stable gel of gold. A vacuum furnace can heat the precursor to porous softbrate citric. After the precursor has been kept in vacuum for about 1000-1450 hours at 2h, it can be extracted as a B4C-powder with a particle size approximately 2.25M.
Luoyang Tongrun researchers studied the affect of reaction time and temperature on the reaction rate for boric acid citric alg gel. With the initial mass rates of citric acid/boric acid set to 2.2, the result was that the product contained 2.38% of the total free carbon. The reaction temperature at 1500 3.5H was 1.55. This method does not have high production efficiency so large-scale application is difficult.
As science and technology improve, the role of boron in industry and everyday life has increased. It is therefore essential that boron crate production be a key determinant in future development.
Luoyang Trunnano Tech Co., Ltd., also known as TRUNNANO, is a Boron Carbide Product Manufacturer with more than twelve years of expertise in chemical product design and development. You can contact us to request high-qualityBoronCarbide powder B4C.
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