Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

16 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Disorder and defects are not intrinsic to boron carbide.

ABSTRACT: A unique combination of useful properties in boron-carbide, such as extreme hardness, excellent fracture toughness, a low density, a high melting point, thermoelectricity, semi-conducting behavior, catalytic activity and a remarkably good chemical stability, makes it an ideal material for a wide range of technological applications. Explaining these properties in terms of chemical bonding has remained a major challenge in boron chemistry. Here we report the synthesis of fully ordered, stoichiometric boron-carbide B13C2 by high-pressure-high-temperature techniques. Our experimental electron-density study using high-resolution single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction data conclusively demonstrates that disorder and defects are not intrinsic to boron carbide, contrary to what was hitherto supposed. A detailed analysis of the electron density distribution reveals charge transfer between structural units in B13C2 and a new type of electron-deficient bond with formally unpaired electrons on the C-B-C group in B13C2. Unprecedented bonding features contribute to the fundamental chemistry and materials science of boron compounds that is of great interest for understanding structure-property relationships and development of novel functional materials.

SUBMITTER: Mondal S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4725998 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Observation of 'hidden' planar defects in boron carbide nanowires and identification of their orientations.

Project description:The physical properties of nanostructures strongly depend on their structures, and planar defects in particular could significantly affect the behavior of the nanowires. In this work, planar defects (twins or stacking faults) in boron carbide nanowires are extensively studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results show that these defects can easily be invisible, i.e., no presence of characteristic defect features like modulated contrast in high-resolution TEM images and streaks in diffraction patterns. The simplified reason of this invisibility is that the viewing direction during TEM examination is not parallel to the (001)-type planar defects. Due to the unique rhombohedral structure of boron carbide, planar defects are only distinctive when the viewing direction is along the axial or short diagonal directions ([100], [010], or 1¯10) within the (001) plane (in-zone condition). However, in most cases, these three characteristic directions are not parallel to the viewing direction when boron carbide nanowires are randomly dispersed on TEM grids. To identify fault orientations (transverse faults or axial faults) of those nanowires whose planar defects are not revealed by TEM, a new approach is developed based on the geometrical analysis between the projected preferred growth direction of a nanowire and specific diffraction spots from diffraction patterns recorded along the axial or short diagonal directions out of the (001) plane (off-zone condition). The approach greatly alleviates tedious TEM examination of the nanowire and helps to establish the reliable structure-property relations. Our study calls attention to researchers to be extremely careful when studying nanowires with potential planar defects by TEM. Understanding the true nature of planar defects is essential in tuning the properties of these nanostructures through manipulating their structures.

| S-EPMC3898527 | biostudies-literature

Breaking the icosahedra in boron carbide.

Project description:Findings of laser-assisted atom probe tomography experiments on boron carbide elucidate an approach for characterizing the atomic structure and interatomic bonding of molecules associated with extraordinary structural stability. The discovery of crystallographic planes in these boron carbide datasets substantiates that crystallinity is maintained to the point of field evaporation, and characterization of individual ionization events gives unexpected evidence of the destruction of individual icosahedra. Statistical analyses of the ions created during the field evaporation process have been used to deduce relative atomic bond strengths and show that the icosahedra in boron carbide are not as stable as anticipated. Combined with quantum mechanics simulations, this result provides insight into the structural instability and amorphization of boron carbide. The temporal, spatial, and compositional information provided by atom probe tomography makes it a unique platform for elucidating the relative stability and interactions of primary building blocks in hierarchically crystalline materials.

| S-EPMC5087016 | biostudies-literature

Macrophages as carriers of boron carbide nanoparticles dedicated to boron neutron capture therapy

Project description: Not available

| S-EPMC11017526 | biostudies-literature

Embedding Ba Monolayers and Bilayers in Boron Carbide Nanowires.

Project description:Aberration corrected high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) was employed to study the distribution of barium atoms on the surfaces and in the interiors of boron carbide based nanowires. Barium based dopants, which were used to control the crystal growth, adsorbed to the surfaces of the boron-rich crystals in the form of nanometer-thick surficial films (a type of surface complexion). During the crystal growth, these dopant-based surface complexions became embedded inside the single crystalline segments of fivefold boron-rich nanowires collectively, where they were converted to more ordered monolayer and bilayer modified complexions. Another form of bilayer complexion stabilized at stacking faults has also been identified. Numerous previous works suggested that dopants/impurities tended to segregate at the stacking faults or twinned boundaries. In contrast, our study revealed the previously-unrecognized possibility of incorporating dopants and impurities inside an otherwise perfect crystal without the association to any twin boundary or stacking fault. Moreover, we revealed the amount of barium dopants incorporated was non-equilibrium and far beyond the bulk solubility, which might lead to unique properties.

| S-EPMC4660277 | biostudies-literature

Neutron Shielding Performance of 3D-Printed Boron Carbide PEEK Composites.

Project description:Polyethylene is used as a traditional shielding material in the nuclear industry, but still suffers from low softening point, poor mechanical properties, and difficult machining. In this study, novel boron carbide polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) composites with different mass ratios were prepared and tested as fast neutron absorbers. Next, shielding test pieces with low porosity were rapidly manufactured through the fused deposition modeling (FDM)-3D printing optimization process. The respective heat resistances, mechanical properties, and neutron shielding characteristics of as-obtained PEEK and boron carbide PEEK composites with different thicknesses were then evaluated. At load of 0.45 MPa, the heat deformation temperature of boron carbide PEEK increased with the boron carbide content. The heat deformation temperature of 30% wt. boron carbide PEEK was recorded as 308.4 °C. After heat treatment, both tensile strength and flexural strength of PEEK and PEEK composites rose by 40%-50% and 65%-78%, respectively. Moreover, the as-prepared composites showed excellent fast neutron shielding performances. For shielding test pieces with thicknesses between 40 mm and 100 mm, the neutron shielding rates exhibited exponential variation as a function of boron carbide content. The addition of 5%-15% boron carbide significantly changed the curvature of the shielding rate curve, suggesting an optimal amount of boron carbide. Meanwhile, the integrated shielding/structure may effectively shield neutron radiation, thereby ensuring optimal shielding performances. In sum, further optimization of the proposed process could achieve lightweight materials with less consumables and small volume.

| S-EPMC7287577 | biostudies-literature

Tuning the deformation mechanisms of boron carbide via silicon doping.

Project description:Boron carbide suffers from a loss of strength and toughness when subjected to high shear stresses due to amorphization. Here, we report that a small amount of Si doping (~1 atomic %) leads to a substantial decrease in stress-induced amorphization due to a noticeable change of the deformation mechanisms in boron carbide. In the undoped boron carbide, the Berkovich indentation-induced quasi-plasticity is dominated by amorphization and microcracking along the amorphous shear bands. This mechanism resulted in long, distinct, and single-variant shear faults. In contrast, substantial fragmentation with limited amorphization was activated in the Si-doped boron carbide, manifested by the short, diffuse, and multivariant shear faults. Microcracking via fragmentation competed with and subsequently mitigated amorphization. This work highlights the important roles that solute atoms play on the structural stability of boron carbide and opens up new avenues to tune deformation mechanisms of ceramics via doping.

| S-EPMC6814370 | biostudies-literature

Directional amorphization of boron carbide subjected to laser shock compression.

Project description:Solid-state shock-wave propagation is strongly nonequilibrium in nature and hence rate dependent. Using high-power pulsed-laser-driven shock compression, unprecedented high strain rates can be achieved; here we report the directional amorphization in boron carbide polycrystals. At a shock pressure of 45?50 GPa, multiple planar faults, slightly deviated from maximum shear direction, occur a few hundred nanometers below the shock surface. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that these planar faults are precursors of directional amorphization. It is proposed that the shear stresses cause the amorphization and that pressure assists the process by ensuring the integrity of the specimen. Thermal energy conversion calculations including heat transfer suggest that amorphization is a solid-state process. Such a phenomenon has significant effect on the ballistic performance of B4C.

| S-EPMC5087058 | biostudies-literature

Boron carbide, B(13-x)C(2-y) (x = 0.12, y = 0.01).

Project description:Boron carbide phases exist over a widely varying compos-itional range B(12+x)C(3-x) (0.06 < x < 1.7). One idealized structure corresponds to the B(13)C(2) composition (space group R-3m) and contains one icosa-hedral B(12) unit and one linear C-B-C chain. The B(12) units are composed of crystallographically distinct B atoms B(P) (polar, B1) and B(Eq) (equatorial, B2). Boron icosa-hedra are inter-connected by C atoms via their B(Eq) atoms, forming layers parallel to (001), while the B(12) units of the adjacent layers are linked through inter-icosa-hedral B(P)-B(P) bonds. The unique B atom (B(C)) connects the two C atoms of adjacent layers, forming a C-B-C chain along [001]. Depending on the carbon concentration, the carbon and B(P) sites exhibit mixed B/C occupancies to varying degrees; besides, the B(C) site shows partial occupancy. The decrease in carbon content was reported to be realized via an increasing number of chainless unit cells. On the basis of X-ray single-crystal refinement, we have concluded that the unit cell of the given boron-rich crystal contains following structural units: [B(12)] and [B(11)C] icosa-hedra (about 96 and 4%, respectively) and C-B-C chains (87%). Besides, there is a fraction of unit cells (13%) with the B atom located against the triangular face of a neighboring icosa-hedron formed by B(Eq) (B2) thus rendering the formula B(0.87)(B(0.98)C(0.02))(12)(B(0.13)C(0.87))(2) for the current boron carbide crystal.

| S-EPMC3414096 | biostudies-literature

Ionization-induced annealing of pre-existing defects in silicon carbide.

Project description:A long-standing objective in materials research is to effectively heal fabrication defects or to remove pre-existing or environmentally induced damage in materials. Silicon carbide (SiC) is a fascinating wide-band gap semiconductor for high-temperature, high-power and high-frequency applications. Its high corrosion and radiation resistance makes it a key refractory/structural material with great potential for extremely harsh radiation environments. Here we show that the energy transferred to the electron system of SiC by energetic ions via inelastic ionization can effectively anneal pre-existing defects and restore the structural order. The threshold determined for this recovery process reveals that it can be activated by 750 and 850 keV Si and C self-ions, respectively. The results conveyed here can contribute to SiC-based device fabrication by providing a room-temperature approach to repair atomic lattice structures, and to SiC performance prediction as either a functional material for device applications or a structural material for high-radiation environments.

| S-EPMC4557342 | biostudies-literature

Bare and boron-doped cubic silicon carbide nanowires for electrochemical detection of nitrite sensitively.

Project description:Fabrication of eletrochemical sensors based on wide bandgap compound semiconductors has attracted increasing interest in recent years. Here we report for the first time electrochemical nitrite sensors based on cubic silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires (NWs) with smooth surface and boron-doped cubic SiC NWs with fin-like structure. Multiple techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) were used to characterize SiC and boron-doped SiC NWs. As for the electrochemical behavior of both SiC NWs electrode, the cyclic voltammetric results show that both SiC electrodes exhibit wide potential window and excellent electrocatalytic activity toward nitrite oxidation. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) determination reveals that there exists a good linear relationship between the oxidation peak current and the concentration in the range of 50-15000??moL L(-1) (cubic SiC NWs) and 5-8000??moL L(-1) (B-doped cubic SiC NWs) with the detection limitation of 5 and 0.5??moL L(-1) respectively. Compared with previously reported results, both as-prepared nitrite sensors exhibit wider linear response range with comparable high sensitivity, high stability and reproducibility.

| S-EPMC4843007 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

Tweets

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data