First principles study of post-boron carbide phases with icosahedra broken*

Abstract

Boron carbide (B4C) is a rhombic structure composed of icosahedra and atomic chains, which has an important application in armored materials. The application of B4C under super high pressure without failure is a hot spot of research. Previous studies have unmasked the essential cause of B4C failure, i.e., its structure will change subjected to impact, especially under the non-hydrostatic pressure and shear stress. However, the change of structure has not been clearly understood nor accurately determined. Here in this paper, we propose several B4C polymorphs including B4C high pressure phases with non-icosahedra, which are denoted as post-B4C and their structures are formed due to icosahedra broken and may be obtained through high pressure and high temperature (HPHT). The research of their physical properties indicates that these B4C polymorphs have outstanding mechanical and electrical properties. For instance, aP10, mC10, mP20, and oP10-B4C are conductive superhard materials. We hope that our research will enrich the cognition of high pressure structural deformation of B4C and broaden the application scope of B4C.