A new superhard material: Osmium diboride OsB2

Superhard materials have many industrial applications, wherever resistance to abrasion and wear are important. The synthesis of new superhard materials is one of the great challenges to scientists. We re-examined the phase diagram of the binary osmium-boron system and confirmed the existence of two hexagonal phases, OsB1.1, Os2B3, and an orthorhombic phase, OsB2. Almost nothing is known about the physical properties of osmium borides. Microhardness measurements show that OsB2 is extremely hard. Ab initio calculations show that this is due to formation of covalent bonds between boron atoms. OsB2 is also a low compressibility material. It can be used as hard coating. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.