Having discovered the extremely high hardness of readily-synthesized OsB2 and ReB2, we have been actively engaged in the thus reinvigorated field of hard metal borides. These materials have a number of promising properties such as high Young's moduli, shear moduli, bulk moduli, and indentation hardness.  Additionally they are facile to shape and sinter, potentially leading to their application as next-generation cutting tools and abrasives. Our on-going endeavor has been to rationalize the structure-property and structure-composition relationships in this still broadening class of compounds. Recently, we have been approaching this problem through the creation of a large number of new solid solution compounds, while also expanding a few previously unidentified or under-studied phases. Through a combination of X-ray and neutron crystallographic methods, as well as ab initio and spectrometric considerations, this talk will discuss the current state of our understanding of the art of rational design of hard materials.

Structural considerations in refractory hard metal borides

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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