Industry News

Properties and Uses of Boron Carbide

Views : 347
Update time : 2021-02-24 09:39:35

What is boron carbide?

Boron carbide, also known as black diamond, is an organic substance with a molecular formula of B₄C, usually gray-black fine powder. It is one of the three hardest materials known (the other two are diamond and cubic boron nitride). It is used in tank armor, bulletproof vests and many industrial applications. Its Mohs hardness is 9.3.


Boron carbide can absorb a large number of neutrons without forming any radioisotopes, so it is an ideal neutron absorber in nuclear power plants, and neutron absorbers mainly control the rate of nuclear fission. Boron carbide is mainly made into a controllable rod shape in the nuclear reactor field, but sometimes it is made into a powder because of the increase in surface area.


Because of its low density, high strength, high temperature stability and good chemical stability. It is used in wear-resistant materials, ceramic reinforcing phases, especially in lightweight armor, reactor neutron absorbers, etc. In addition, compared with diamond and cubic boron nitride, boron carbide is easy to manufacture and low in cost, so it is more widely used. It can replace expensive diamond in some places and is commonly used in grinding, grinding, and drilling.

Boron carbide powder uses:

(1) The field of national defense. Boron carbide ceramics have been used in bullet-proof since the 1960s. Compared with other materials, it has the characteristics of easy portability and high hardness. It plays a huge role in the lightweight armor of armed helicopters and the bulletproof armor of aircraft. The British used it as a raw material to make armor that can defend against armor-piercing projectiles.


(2) In terms of chemical raw materials. In order to increase the wear resistance and strength of alloy materials, boron carbide is used as a boronizing agent for alloys, which can be boronized on the metal surface to form a thin layer of iron boride; it can also be used as a boron source to generate boride powder by reduction and method Such as TiB2, ZrB2, CrB2, or "B4C method" to prepare boron halide, hydrogen boride, etc.


(3) Wear-resistant field. Various industrial nozzles such as desander nozzles for rust removal and nozzles used for cutting with high-pressure water guns have the shadow of boron carbide ceramics. They are often the first choice for factories because of their long service life under extreme conditions and high cost performance. . It is also often used as a research body in the chemical analysis process, because it can effectively avoid the pollution caused by abrasive loss during the grinding process. As a substitute for diamond abrasives, boron carbide can significantly reduce costs in the processing of various hard metals and jade glass.


(4) Nuclear energy. Because of its excellent neutron absorption capacity, boron carbide is often used in neutron absorption material control rods, safety rods and other components to control the rate of nuclear fission and protect human body safety.


TRUNNANO (aka. Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology Co. Ltd.) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years’ experience in providing super high quality chemicals and Nano materials. The B4C powder produced by our company has high purity, fine particle size and impurity content. Lower, please contact us if necessary.

Amorphous Boron Powder | High Purity Graphite Powder | Boride Powder | 3D Printing Powder | Zinc Sulfide ZnS Powder | Oxide Powder | Silicide Powder