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One-step spark plasma sintering infiltration of B4C/Al functionally graded materials

  • Chang-Ming Xu , Wen-Tong Chen , Yaxin Wang and Songlin Ran ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: February 19, 2025
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Abstract

Near fully-dense B4C/Al functionally graded materials were prepared by a one-step spark plasma sintering infiltration technique. Microstructural examination and X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that no observable reaction occurred between B4C and Al during the spark plasma sintering infiltration process. The Vicker’s hardness of the as-prepared B4C/Al material exhibited a gradient decrease from the highest value of 30.5 GPa to the lowest of 1.1 GPa, demonstrating an excellent hardness gradient. This typical processing method could serve as an alternative strategy for fabricating similar ceramic/metal functionally graded materials systems, which consist of major compositions with significant melting point differences.


Corresponding author: Songlin Ran, Advanced Ceramics Research Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, 1530 Maxiang Road, Ma’anshan 243032, P.R. China; and Ji’an Nutpool Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Ji’an 343009, P.R. China, E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Special Optoelectronic Artificial Crystal Materials (Grant No. 2024SSY05091), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52472061) and the “Double-Hundred Talent Plan” of Ji’an city in Jiangxi province.

  7. Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

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Received: 2024-09-04
Accepted: 2024-11-12
Published Online: 2025-02-19
Published in Print: 2025-03-26

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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