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

Hexagonal boron nitride is a very useful substance with extensive applications due to its unique characteristics. In this work, the influence of sintering temperature on densification and mechanical properties was investigated. Nanostructured boron nitride with 2.4 wt% B2O3 fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at various temperatures of 1600, 1700 and 1800 degrees C under 30 MPa for 10 min. Experimental data demonstrated that relative density, bending strength parallel to the pressing direction and Vickers hardness (H-v) increased with sintering temperature, but dielectric constant was insignificantly influenced by sintering temperature. The best sample sintered at 1800 degrees C had the highest relative density of 97.7%, hardness of 2.01 GPa, bending strength of 88 MPa, and dielectric constant of 5.7. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.