The effect of boron oxide on the physical and mechanical properties of nanostructured boron nitride by spark plasma sintering

Hexagonal boron nitride is a substance with unique properties that has attracted a remarkable amount of interest in last decades. In this work, hexagonal boron nitride samples were prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering at 1600 degrees C with 1.7, 2.4 and 3 wt% B2O3 as an additive. Physical and mechanical properties of the sintered samples were investigated. The result showed that the increase of the additive can effectively promote the samples features especially density. The best sample containing 3 wt% B2O3 had the highest relative density of 99%, hardness of 1.67 GPa, bending strength of 85 MPa and dielectric constant of 6.2. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.