High-pressure high-temperature synthesis of cubic B-C-N compounds with high thermal stability

Exploring superhard materials is of great significance in materials research. Ternary B-C-N superhard compounds exhibit a superior thermal stability to diamond, with hardness surpassing cubic boron nitride. However, synthesizing cubic B-C-N compounds is challenging, and few studies have been reported on their high-temperature oxidation resistance, impeding their potential applications. In this study, cubic B-C-N compounds (c-BCN) were synthesized using the high-pressure high-temperature synthesis method at 10 GPa and 1530 °C, half the reported pressure and one-quarter lower than the reported temperature. The thermal stability of the obtained c-BCN compound was examined. The results indicated that the air oxidation temperature of c-BCN was as high as 1200 °C, suitable for high-speed cutting of hardened steels. This study provided a production method of cubic B-C-N superhard compounds and extended their potential applications to milling/machining.