Optimal preparation of high-entropy boride-silicon carbide ceramics
Abstract High-entropy boride-silicon carbide (HEB-SiC) ceramics were fabricated by using boride-based powders prepared from borothermal and boro/carbothermal reduction methods. The effects of processing routes (borothermal reduction and boro/carbothermal reduction) of HEB powders were examined. HEB-SiC ceramics with nearly relatively full density (>98%) were prepared by spark plasma sintering at 2000oC. It was demonstrated that the addition of SiC led to slightly coarsening of the microstructure. The HEB-SiC ceramics prepared from boro/carbothermal reduction powders showed the fine-grained microstructure and higher Vickers’ hardness but lower fracture toughness values as compared with the same composition prepared from borothermal reduction powders. These results indicated that the selection of the powder processing method and the addition of SiC phase could contribute to the optimal preparation of high-entropy boride-based ceramics.