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Article
Solute Distributions in Tantalum-Containing Zirconium Diboride Ceramics
Journal of the American Ceramic Society
  • Anna N. Dorner
  • Dallin J. Barton
  • Yue Zhou
  • Gregory B. Thompson
  • Greg Hilmas, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • William Fahrenholtz, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Abstract

Solute segregation was examined in zirconium diboride and zirconium-tantalum diboride solid solution ceramics that were produced by reactive hot pressing. Microstructural analysis demonstrated that the ZrB2 and (Zr,Ta)B2 ceramics reached nearly full relative density and were nominally phase-pure. X-ray diffraction was consistent with full incorporation of Ta into solid solution within the ZrB2 structure, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy demonstrated that tantalum was well distributed throughout the bulk of the Ta-doped specimens. The weak characteristic X-rays for B led to inaccurate results for total atom concentrations in boride ceramics by energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Atom probe tomography was used to analyze the amount and spatial distribution of Ta species. No obvious Ta segregation was observed in grains or grain boundaries. However, nitrogen strongly segregated to a grain boundary. This study demonstrated that atom probe tomography is an accurate method for characterizing the amount and spatial distribution of metallic and nonmetallic species in ZrB2 ceramics.

Department(s)
Materials Science and Engineering
Comments
This work was funded by the Enabling Materials for Extreme Environments signature area at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Keywords and Phrases
  • Atom Probe Tomography,
  • Characterization,
  • Segregation,
  • Solid Solutions,
  • Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2019 The American Ceramic Society, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
4-1-2020
Publication Date
01 Apr 2020
Disciplines
Citation Information
Anna N. Dorner, Dallin J. Barton, Yue Zhou, Gregory B. Thompson, et al.. "Solute Distributions in Tantalum-Containing Zirconium Diboride Ceramics" Journal of the American Ceramic Society Vol. 103 Iss. 4 (2020) p. 2880 - 2890 ISSN: 0002-7820; 1551-2916
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/greg-hilmas/239/