Synthesis and characterization of B13C2 boron carbide ceramic by pulsed electric current sintering

Approximately 400 nm grain sized boron–carbon ceramic was synthesized by the pulsed electric current sintering (PECS) method using boron and carbon powders. Relative density of up to 95% was achieved at sintering temperature of 1900 °C. This ceramic was composed with B13C2 as major phase and few B4C and C, which were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld refinement quantitative analysis and chemical analysis (CA) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The microstructure was also observed via transmission electron microscope (TEM).