Mechanical properties of boron phosphides

TL;DR

This study investigates the microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk boron phosphides, revealing their hardness and toughness, and suggesting their potential as binders for superhard materials.

Contribution

It provides new data on the hardness, elastic properties, and fracture toughness of cubic BP and rhombohedral B12P2, highlighting their potential applications.

Findings

Both phosphides are hard materials with notable fracture toughness.

They exhibit promising elastic properties suitable for binder applications.

Data supports their use in superhard composite materials.

Abstract

Microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk polycristalline boron phosphides (cubic BP and rhombohedral B12P2) have been studied by scanning electron microscopy and micro- and nanoindentation. The obtained data on hardness, elastic properties and fracture toughness clearly indicate that both phosphides belong to a family of hard phases and can be considered as prospective binders for diamond and cubic boron nitride.