Research Projects

Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics (UHTC’s) are a limited and select set of carbides, nitrides and borides of the group IV and V transition metals, which are typically defined as having melting temperatures more than 3300K; with HfC exhibiting the highest known melting point of all materials (4232 ± 84 K). UHTC’s also display high hardness, elastic modulus and resistance to thermal shock and chemical attack. These materials represent the only suitable class of materials available to make or protect components that are placed under the most extreme of operating environments. As these developing technologies become more advanced and more demanding, UHTC’s are coming under increasing pressure to perform under more diverse operating conditions. A greater selection of UHTC’s that exhibit a much broader range and combination of physical, chemical and mechanical properties are therefore required to meet these demands. Bulk equiatomic (Hf-Ta-Zr-Ti)C and (HfTa-Zr-Nb)C high entropy Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic (UHTC) carbide compositions shall be processed through optimized route for the (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb)C composition to produce a high purity, single phase, homogeneous, bulk high entropy material (99% density); revealing a vast new compositional space for the exploration of new UHTCs. Mono/binary carbides need to be developed with hardness (36.1 ± 1.6 GPa,) compared to the hardest monocarbide (HfC, 31.5 ± 1.3GPa) and the binary (Hf- Ta)C (32.9 ± 1.8 GPa)