(ORDO NEWS) — A new composite based on boron nitride exhibits the properties of conventional ceramics, but does not crack when heated, but melts, so it can be shaped into any desired shape.
It is easy to give metal and plastic any desired shape: when heated, such materials become plastic. Unlike them, ceramics retain their structure and, at best, will shatter into pieces.
Recently, however, scientists at Northeastern University in the US have demonstrated a new ceramic material that can be molded at high temperatures.
The material is made up of tiny plates of boron nitride bonded by film casting and held together by photopolymerization.
This makes it possible to obtain a composite whose microstructure provides plasticity when heated. Article by Randall Erb (Randall Erb) and colleagues published in the journal Advanced Materials .
As is sometimes the case in science, the discovery was made almost by accident. While experimenting with the new ceramic material, the scientists noticed that it melted in the hot fire of a gas burner and fell out of its fixture.
Looking closely, they realized that, unlike conventional ceramics, which can only crack when heated strongly, this material remained intact and only took on a new melted shape, which would be more likely from plastic or metal.
“We did this several times and realized that we could control the deformation. We tried injection molding, and it turned out that the material lends itself easily to it, ” said Professor Erb.
According to scientists, the microstructure of such ceramics allows it to conduct heat very efficiently, distributing it throughout the volume and melting like metal.
For further development and commercialization of their discovery, the authors launched the startup Fourier LLC and have already received the first investment.
Thermoformable ceramics can find applications in electronics. It is easy to give it any desired shape and use it to remove heat from heating microchips. So far, metal, usually aluminum, radiators are used for this purpose.
However, it must be taken into account that metals can interfere with the transmission of radio waves. The new material is completely transparent for them and does not conduct electricity.
Due to heating and vibration, such ceramics can be given the necessary shape in order to be tightly applied to the microcircuit for effective removal of excess heat.
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