Phys.org June 14, 2018
An international team of researchers (Russia, Armenia, China) predicted new tungsten borides, some of which are promising hard materials that are expected to be stable in a wide range of conditions, according to the computed composition–temperature phase diagram. The new boron-rich compound WB5 is predicted to be superhard, with a Vickers hardness of 45 GPa, possess high fracture toughness of ∼4 MPa·m0.5, and thermodynamically stable in a wide range of temperatures at ambient pressure, and remains a high-performance material even at very high temperatures. Superhard substances have a broad scope of application in well drilling, machine building, metalworking, the defense industry, medicine and many other fields…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Credit: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters