The Hydrothermal Method of Preparing Boron–Saccharide Precursors for the Synthesis of Boron Carbide and Its Influence on the Morphology and Phase Composition of the Obtained Products

Abstract

Owing to its properties, boron carbide has been applied in scientific and industrial fields. For this reason, B4C powders should be characterized by high purity and homogeneity in grain size and shape. In this study, boron carbide was prepared using precursors obtained using a hydrothermal method, and the grain morphology of the product was investigated. Boric acid and the saccharides glucose, fructose, inulin, and sorbitol were used as the precursors. Two precursor dehydration methods, freeze-drying and recrystallization, were compared. The precursors were subjected to DLS grain size and FT-IR spectrophotometric studies, and SEM observations of the precursors and products were performed, confirming that boron carbide powders could be successfully synthesized.

Keywords

• boron carbide
• nanopowders
• hydrothermal method
• saccharides