Superhard materials possess superior mechanical properties, most notably high hardness (H<sub>v</sub> ≥ 40 GPa) and ultraincompressibility (K<sub>0</sub> ≥ 300 GPa). The primary focus of superhard materials development to date has largely relied on new compositions and chemical tuning of the crystal structure. While these intrinsic effects are fundamental to the development of superhard materials, there is a strong possibility that overall hardness can be dramatically enhanced using extrinsic effects. Furthermore, the contribution of morphology to hardness at the limit of material strength is relatively unknown. As such, morphological control represents an orthogonal approach to the currently used intrinsic strengthening mechanisms; there is a very real possibility that these extrinsic mechanisms can further increase the hardness of already superhard materials. Here, we present synthetic routes towards nanostructuring superhard borides at completely ambient pressures, and demonstrate its contribution towards hardness.

Nanostructuring of superhard materials

251st National Meeting (2016)

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