A molten-salt and microwave co-facilitated boro/carbothermal reduction methodology was developed for low temperature high-efficiency synthesis of TiB2 powders. By using relatively inexpensive titanium oxide (TiO2), boron carbide (B4C) and amorphous carbon (C) as raw materials, single-phase TiB2 powders were prepared after 60 min at as low as 1150 °C or after only 20 min at 1200 °C. Such synthesis conditions were remarkably milder than those required by the conventional reduction routes using the identical reducing agent. As-synthesized TiB2 powders exhibited single-crystalline nature and well-grown hexagonal-platelet-like morphology. The achievement of low temperature high-efficiency preparation of high-quality TiB2 microplatelets in the present work was mainly attributable to the synergistic effects of molten-salt medium and microwave heating.
Keywords: TiB2; hexagonal microplatelet; microwave heating; molten-salt synthesis.