Synthesis of B–C–N nanocrystalline particle by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering

B–C–N nanocrystalline particles have been synthesized by Spark plasma sintering (SPS) from the amorphous BC2N (a-BC2N) precursor, which were prepared by the mechanical alloying (MA) method from a mixture of graphite and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). The syntheses have been performed in the temperature range from 1200 to 1900 C at the heating rate of about 300 C min–1 with loads of 30 MPa. The obtained product has been checked by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electron energy loss spectrum (EELS). It has been found that the B–C–N nanocrystalline particles can be synthesized at the temperature of 1600 C with the grain size less than 50 nm, and at the temperature of 1900 C, the a-BC2N is decomposed into graphite and h-BN.