Performance of glucose, sucrose and cellulose as carbonaceous precursors for the synthesis of B4C powders

Boron carbide is the third hardest material in the world after diamond and cubic boron nitride, which is one of the most strategic engineering ceramics in various industrial applications. The aim of this research is to synthesize B4C by reacting boric acid as boron source with polymers from the saccharide family as carbon sources, and to determine the best saccharide as precursor. For this purpose, glucose (monosaccharide), sucrose (disaccharide), and cellulose (polysaccharide) were used and examined. The samples were prepared by appropriate mixing of the starting materials, pyrolysis at 700 °C, and synthesis at 1500 °C. The results of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) showed that among the studied saccharide polymers, glucose is the best carbon source candidate for the synthesis of B4C. To describe precisely, the specimen prepared with glucose and boric acid had more boron carbide and less hydrocarbon.