Application
Hafnium boride, a gray, hexagonal crystal solid featuring lattice parameters of a=0.3141 nm and c=0.3470 nm, is produced by heating a combination of HfO2, C, and B2O3. Known for its impressive hardness of 2900 kgf/mm² and a resistivity of 8.8 μohm·cm, this material is predominantly utilized as a refractory material and a sputtering target with 99.5% purity to generate films that can be both wear-resistant and semiconducting. Its applications extend to wear-resistant coatings, nuclear reactor control rods, and components such as heat shields or aerodynamic leading edges in hypervelocity re-entry vehicles like ICBMs. Additionally, hafnium boride is valuable in developing high-temperature composites when used alongside silicon carbide (SiC).