Boron carbide nanoparticles for high-hardness ceramics: Crystal lattice defects after treatment in a planetary ball mill

Deformation features of the boron carbide lattice treated in a planetary ball mill are studied in our work. It is shown that such treatment causes a decrease in the B4C grain size and cracking along the {20 (1) over bar1}(h) planes, whereas the same treatment in the presence of silicon results in the appearance of twins along the {10 (1) over bar1}(h) planes. Distorted stacking faults along (10 (1) over bar4)(h) are observed. Ab initio simulations shown, that among low-index crystallographic planes {20 (2) over bar1}(h) and {10 (1) over bar1}(h) have the smallest values of specific surface energy which favors the formation of defects and cracks. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.