Hardness and thermal stability enhancement of polycrystalline diamond compact through additive hexagonal boron nitride. (May 2018) - Liu, Yinjuan
Abstract: Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) was used as the additive in improving the hardness and thermal stability of polycrystalline diamond compact under high temperature and high pressure. Indentation testing on diamond/cubic boron nitride (cBN) composites indicated a Vickers hardness of 96 ± 7 GPa, rivaling the hardness of monocrystal diamond. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) suggested that the composites of diamond/cBN are thermally stable in air up to ∼910 °C which is higher than that of pure polycrystalline diamond compact (∼750 °C). Raman, TGA, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic and microstructure analyses all revealed the features of diamond/cBN composition beyond both diamond and cBN. Graphical abstract: Unlabelled Image