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Title: Anomalous stress response of ultrahard WB n compounds

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4]
  1. Jilin Univ., Changchun (China); Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
  2. Changchun Univ. of Science and Technology, Changchun (China); Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
  3. Jilin Univ., Changchun (China)
  4. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)

Boron-rich tungsten borides are premier prototypes of a new class of ultrahard compounds. Here, we show by first-principles calculations that their stress-strain relations display surprisingly diverse and anomalous behavior under a variety of loading conditions. Most remarkable is the dramatically changing bonding configurations and deformation modes with rising boron concentration in WBn (n=2, 3, 4), resulting in significantly different stress responses and unexpected indentation strength variations. This novel phenomenon stems from the peculiar structural arrangements in tungsten borides driven by boron’s ability to form unusually versatile bonding states. Our results elucidate the intriguing deformation mechanisms that define a distinct type of ultrahard material. Here, these new insights underscore the need to explore unconventional structure-property relations in a broad range of transition-metal light-element compounds.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0001982
OSTI ID:
1332449
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1224669
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 115, Issue 18; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 99 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (20)

Revealing the Unusual Rigid Boron Chain Substructure in Hard and Superconductive Tantalum Monoboride journal March 2019
Influence of Re Concentration on the Mechanical Properties of Tungsten Borides from First-Principles Calculations journal August 2017
Materials discovery at high pressures journal February 2017
Magnetic moment collapse induced axial alternative compressibility of Cr2TiAlC2 at 420 GPa from first principle journal September 2016
Atomically thin NiB 6 monolayer: a robust Dirac material journal January 2019
Computational discovery and characterization of new B 2 O phases journal January 2019
DFT prediction of a novel molybdenum tetraboride superhard material journal January 2018
Effect of pressure on the structural, electronic and mechanical properties of ultraincompressible W 2 B journal January 2018
Designing superhard metals: The case of low borides journal April 2018
Stable and hard hafnium borides: A first-principles study journal May 2019
First-principles prediction of crystal structure and physical properties of ScB 3 journal April 2019
Exploration of high-pressure structural transition and electronic properties of BaFe 2 S 3 journal January 2019
Anomalous lattice stiffening in tungsten tetraboride solid solutions with manganese under compression journal January 2020
Anisotropy in elasticity and physical properties of Ti 2 B under high pressure journal September 2019
Unravelling the structure and strength of the highest boride of tungsten WB 4.2 journal December 2019
CoB 6 monolayer: A robust two-dimensional ferromagnet journal January 2019
Structural optimization and physical properties of TcB 3 and MoB 3 at high-pressure: First-principles journal August 2016
First-principles study of structure and mechanical properties of TMB 12 (TM = W and Ti) superhard material under pressure journal September 2019
Prediction of HfB3 from first-principles calculations: crystal structures, stabilities, electronic properties and hardnesses text January 2018
Prediction of HfB 3 from first-principles calculations: crystal structures, stabilities, electronic properties and hardnesses journal September 2018

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