CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefits of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/772,659, filed Nov. 29, 2018, the contents of which are incorporated herein entirely

GOVERNMENT RIGHTS

This invention was made with government support under N00014-17-1-2155 awarded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and W911NF-13-1-0425 awarded by the Army Research Office (ARO). The United States government has certain rights in the invention.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to novel boron carbide (B₄C) composite material and the method of making and using the novel boron carbide (B₄C) composite.

BACKGROUND

This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, these statements are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is or is not prior art.

Boron carbide is useful for applications where ultra-hard components are needed, such as wear-resistant bearings, sand-blasting nozzles, abrasives and ballistic armor. There are significant challenges, such as the high temperatures required and particle coarsening, associated with the pressureless sintering of boron carbide (B₄C). The strong, stable covalent bonds of B₄C give it notoriously low sintering ability and sintering mechanisms that lead to densification, such as bulk diffusion and grain boundary diffusion, only become effective at temperatures in excess of 2300° C. One important consideration for achieving near theoretical density B₄C components using pressureless sintering is the use of sintering aids. Sintering aids have been widely shown to improve the densification of B₄C at lower temperatures than would be required for non-doped systems. It has also been shown that the addition of sintering aids may be beneficial to both hardness and fracture toughness. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,309,672B2.

While methods/composites in previous disclosures provided some improvements, better boron carbide composite materials and methods of preparing such materials are still needed.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides novel boron carbide (B₄C) composite material and the method of making and using the novel boron carbide (B₄C) composite.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a novel composite material comprising a sintered product of a mixture comprising 70-95 wt. % of boron carbide (B₄C), 2-15 wt. % of tungsten carbide (WC), and 3-15 wt. % of yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃), wherein said boron carbide, tungsten carbide, and yttrium oxide are substantially uniformly distributed in the sintered product.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method of preparing the novel boron carbide (B₄C) composite material of the present disclosure, wherein the method comprises:

attrition milling boron carbide and tungsten carbide in ethanol to provide an attrition milled powder comprising boron carbide and tungsten carbide, wherein said boron carbide after the attrition milling is substantially free of boron oxide (B₂O₃);

preparing an aqueous suspension comprising the attrition milled boron carbide and tungsten carbide powder, and yttrium oxide powder;

injecting mold said suspension and making it a dried mixture; and

sintering the dried mixture at a temperature range of 1600-2600° C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of this disclosure is thereby intended.

In the present disclosure the term “about” can allow for a degree of variability in a value or range, for example, within 10%, within 5%, or within 1% of a stated value or of a stated limit of a range.

In the present disclosure the term “substantially” can allow for a degree of variability in a value or range, for example, within 90%, within 95%, or within 99% of a stated value or of a stated limit of a range.

In the present disclosure the term “relative density” refers to a comparison between the bulk density of a material (i.e. the density measured using the Archimedes' technique which includes voids and other defects) compared to the theoretical density of the material (i.e. the density if there were no voids or defects). It is usually expressed as a percentage.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a novel composite material comprising a sintered product of a mixture comprising 70-95 wt. % of boron carbide (B₄C), 2-15 wt. % of tungsten carbide (WC), and 3-15 wt. % of yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃), wherein said boron carbide, tungsten carbide, and yttrium oxide are substantially uniformly distributed in the sintered product.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a novel composite material comprising a sintered product of a mixture comprising 70-90 wt. % of boron carbide (B₄C), 5-15 wt. % of tungsten carbide (WC), and 5-15 wt. % of yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃), wherein said boron carbide, tungsten carbide, and yttrium oxide are substantially uniformly distributed in the sintered product.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a novel composite material comprising a sintered product of a mixture comprising boron carbide (B₄C), tungsten carbide (WC), and yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃), wherein the sintered product has a relative density of 90-99%.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a novel composite material comprising a sintered product of a mixture comprising boron carbide (B₄C), tungsten carbide (WC), and yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃), wherein the sintered product is obtained under substantially pressureless condition at a temperature range of 1600-2600° C.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a novel composite material comprising a sintered product of a mixture comprising boron carbide (B₄C), tungsten carbide (WC), and yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃), wherein said boron carbide is first attrition milled with tungsten carbide in ethanol to provide attrition milled mixture of boron carbide and tungsten carbide, wherein said boron carbide after attrition milled is substantially free of boron oxide (B₂O₃).

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method of preparing the novel boron carbide (B₄C) composite material of the present disclosure, wherein the method comprises:

attrition milling boron carbide and tungsten carbide in ethanol to provide an attrition milled powder comprising boron carbide and tungsten carbide, wherein said boron carbide after the attrition milling is substantially free of boron oxide (B₂O₃);

preparing an aqueous suspension comprising the attrition milled boron carbide and tungsten carbide powder, and yttrium oxide powder;

injecting mold said suspension and making it a dried mixture; and

sintering the dried mixture at a temperature range of 1600-2600° C.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method of preparing the novel boron carbide (B₄C) composite material of the present disclosure, wherein the sintering is carried out at substantially pressureless condition.

Experimental Sections

Boron carbide (B₄C) powder (H. C. Starck, Germany) with an average particle size of 1.1 micron was used as a starting powder, which had a chemical composition as provided in Table 1:

TABLE 1

Chemical composition of the as-received boron carbide.

Element
Wt. %

B
75.8

C
22.3

N
0.5

O
1.3

Fe
0.02

Si
0.06

Al
<0.01

Three different powder treatments were performed. The first was as-received powder with no treatment.

The second kind of treatment was that the as-received boron carbide was treated by washing in ethanol.

The third was attrition milling in ethanol with sintering aids. In the process utilized in the present disclosure, B₄C powder is first attrition milled in ethanol to remove the thin layer of B₂O₃that forms on the surface of B₄C particles. Due to the extreme hardness of B₄C, the WC—Co milling media is slowly eroded and mixed into the B₄C powder during attrition milling. As a result, the attrition milled powder is about 2-15% by weight WC—Co. The using of attrition milling increases final densities when compared to using as-received or ethanol washed powders. However, it was noticed the relative density is still below 85% with only WC addition (Table 2). B₄C powder was suspended in ethanol and attrition milled with ⅛″ 94% tungsten carbide-6% cobalt (WC—Co) milling media for 2 hours at 50 rpm. The milling media to powder ratio was 6.7:1. The powders were dried overnight and then ball milled for 24 hours. During attrition milling, an amount of the WC—Co milling media was worn away and integrated into the B₄C powder. This amount ranged from 2-10 wt. % depending on the batch. Ethanol washed powder was treated in a manner identical to attrition milling, except no WC—Co milling media was added. Tungsten carbide (WC) powder with an average particle size of 0.75 micron was added to the as-received and ethanol washed powders. Powder mixtures with the compositions provided in Table 2 were prepared, with variation of the quantity of sintering aids from 0-20 wt. %.

TABLE 2

Samples 1-9

Sample
Powder
B₄C
WC—Co
WC
Relative

No.
Preparation
(wt. %)
(wt. %)
(wt. %)
Density (%)

1
As-received
100
NA
NA
76.63

2
As-received
90
NA
10
77.85

3
As-received
85
NA
15
78.83

4
As-received
80
NA
20
78.79

5
Ethanol
100
NA
NA
78.23

washed

6
Ethanol
90
NA
10
79.03

washed

7
Ethanol
85
NA
15
79.86

washed

8
Ethanol
80
NA
20
79.92

washed

9
Attrition
85
15
NA
81.13

milled

Pellets of each composition were uniaxially pressed at 34.5 MPa for 20 seconds in a steel die with a diameter of 15 mm. Pellets were placed in a graphite crucible and sintered in a flowing argon atmosphere for 1 hour at 2000° C. with a ramp rate of 25° C./min. After cooling, the pellets were removed and cleaned. Density was measured using Archimedes' method (ASTM C373-14a).

The data of samples 1-9 in Table 2 showed that the addition of WC is beneficial to the pressureless sintering of B₄C. Ethanol washing is also beneficial, as the layer of boric oxide (B₂O₃) found on the surface of B₄C particles dissolves in ethanol. Attrition milling has a significant benefit over ethanol washing, even when WC is intentionally added to match the WC—Co concentration from attrition milling.

Samples 10-31 were prepared in a manner similar to examples 1-9 except yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃) powder with a specific surface area of 6.49 m²/g was also used as a sintering aid. Powder mixtures with the compositions provided in Table 3 were prepared. Powders were mixed in a planetary mixer (Flacktek, South Carolina) at 800 rpm to ensure even mixing.

Sample 32 was prepared by first mixing a highly loaded (>50 vol. %) aqueous suspension using the attrition milled B₄C/WC—Co powder, Y₂O₃powder, concentrated 12M HCl, and small amount of branched polyethylenimine (PEI, M_w=25,000 g/mol) for improved green body strength. The suspension is then injection molded at room temperature. Afterwards, the component is allowed to dry before undergoing binder burnout and sintering. The final composition of the sintered components is 70-95% B₄C, 2-15% WC—Co, and 3-15% Y₂O₃by weight. The addition of Y₂O₃significantly increases the final density of B₄C over a wide variety of compositions and outperforms traditional B₄C sintering aids over much of that range (Table 3). Sample 33-35 are made essentially the same as Sample 32.

TABLE 3

Samples 10-35

Sintering
Relative

Sample
Powder
B₄C
WC—Co
Y₂O₃
WC
aids total
density

No.
Preparation
(wt. %)
(wt. %)
(wt. %)
(%)
(wt. %)
(%)

10
As-received
90

10

10
86.65

11
As-received
87.5

10
2.5
12.5
86.94

12
As-received
85

10
5
15
86.96

13
As-received
82.5

10
7.5
17.5
88.18

14
As-received
80

10
10
20
88.18

15
As-received
77.5

10
12.5
22.5
89.3

16
As-received
75

10
15
25
89.51

17
Ethanol
90

10

10
87.27

washed

18
Ethanol
87.5

10
2.5
12.5
87.1

washed

19
Ethanol
85

10
5
15
87.58

washed

20
Ethanol
82.5

10
7.5
17.5
89.24

washed

21
Ethanol
80

10
10
20
88.37

washed

22
Ethanol
77.5

10
12.5
22.5
89.1

washed

23
Ethanol
75

10

25
89.92

washed

24
Attrition
85
5
10

15
87.73

milled

25
Attrition
82.5
7.5
10

17.5
88.71

milled

26
Attrition
80
5.08
10
4.92
20
89.49

milled

27
Attrition
77.5
5.08
10
7.67
22.5
89.48

milled

28
Attrition
75
5.08
10
9.92
25
91.17

milled

29
Attrition
90
5
5

10
86.45

milled

30
Attrition
85
5
10

15
90.98

milled

31
Attrition
80
5
15

20
93.81

milled

32
Attrition
84
6
10

16
97.28

milled

33
Attrition
82.79
7.21
10

17.21
97.67

milled

34
Attrition
90.34
4.66
5

9.66
94.06

milled

35
Attrition
78.59
5.91
15

21.41
95.43

milled

The data of samples 10-35 in Table 3 showed that Y₂O₃has a strong beneficial effect on densification of B₄C over a wide variety of compositions, regardless of powder treatment. In addition, adding 10 wt. % Y₂O₃increases the effect of WC additions. This suggests that there is a synergic benefit to using both sintering aids simultaneously.

To compare the performance of the composites of the present disclosure and the performance of the composites of U.S. Pat. No. 7,309,672B2, a comparison study was carried out. The results can be found in Table 4.

TABLE 4

Samples 36*-37*

Sintering
Relative

Sample
Powder
B₄C
Al₂O₃
Y₂O₃
aids total
density

No.
Preparation
(wt. %)
(wt. %)
(wt. %)
(wt. %)
(%)

36*
As-received
95
3
2
5
85.22

37*
As-received
98
1.2
0.8
2.0
83.12

Samples 36* and 37* are made corresponding to the method of preparing the Examples 5 and 7 in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,309,672B2. It is clear that composites of the present disclosure provided higher relative density. For example, sample 32 had over 97% relative density, which is more than 10% improvement.

Pellets of each composition was uniaxially pressed at 34.5 MPa for 20 seconds in a steel die with a diameter of 15 mm. Pellets were placed in a graphite crucible and sintered in a flowing argon atmosphere for 1 hour at 2000° C. with a ramp rate of 25° C./min. After cooling, the pellets were removed and cleaned. Density was measured using Archimedes' method (ASTM C373-14a).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications can be made to the specific implementations described above. The implementations should not be limited to the particular limitations described. Other implementations may be possible.