Synthesis of boron carbide from its elements at high pressures and high temperatures

The formation of boron carbide under high pressures and from elemental reactants has been studied. To this end, stoichiometric mixtures of commercial crystalline beta rhombohedral boron and amorphous glassy carbon have been subjected to temperatures ranging from 1473 K to 2473 K at pressures of 2 GPa and 5 GPa. Similar syntheses have been repeated for crystalline boron and graphite. As the synthesis pressure increases, the temperature of formation of boron carbide is found to increase as well. Moreover, the reaction temperature is shown to be affected by the choice of the reactants.