Publication details
Search for proper conditions for deposition of X2BC coatings in Mo-B-C, W-B-C, Nb-B-C and Ta-B-C systems
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Borides and carbides have been known for many decades. Their outstanding mechanical, electrical and thermal properties made them indispensable in the industry. The idea of combining these systems into a ternary X-B-C system naturally evolved. The X has been from all of the s, p d and f blocks of the periodic table of the elements. The orthorhombic Mo2BC phase, being the first with the X2BC stoichiometry, was described by Jeitschko in 1963 [1]. This structure attracted the interest for its superconducting properties. Sixty years later, this is still the only synthesised X2BC phase. A renaissance of the X2BC phases, this time in the form of the thin films, has begun in 2009 when the Mo2BC phase was prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering [2]. This phase showed highly unusual combination of high hardness and moderate ductility. Theoretical studies describing other crystalline ternary X2BC phases predicting the thermodynamic possibility of their preparation together with even better mechanical properties followed [3]. Since then, we have been studied several different systems from these predictions, including W-B-C, Nb-B-C and Ta-B-C. No definitive proof of the existence of any X2BC phase apart from the original Mo2BC phase was found. This contribution will cruise through the ups and downs of this research in the last decade. It will be shown that thin films from these systems can have interesting mechanical and thermal properties even without the formation of the desired and elusive X2BC phase. We will also sketch the possibilities for the future directions of the studies of the X2BCs. |