TY  - JOUR
AU  - Ma, Shuailing
AU  - Ge, Yufei
AU  - Lian, Min
AU  - Ma, Xiao
AU  - Zhu, Pinwen
AU  - Tayal, Akhil
AU  - Zhao, Xingbin
AU  - Li, Wei
AU  - Song, Hao
AU  - Zhang, Zihan
AU  - Liu, Yunxian
AU  - Liu, Xiaobing
AU  - Cui, Tian
TI  - Unlocking superior mechanical properties: the synergistic enhancement of hardness and fracture toughness in nanopolycrystalline tantalum diboride
JO  - Missing Journal / Fehlende Zeitschrift
VL  - 5
IS  - 3
M1  - PUBDB-2026-00558
SP  - 100374 -
PY  - 2026
N1  - Missing Journal: Advanced Powder Materials (Advanced Powder Materials) = 2772-834X (import from CrossRef, Journals: bib-pubdb1.desy.de)
AB  - Achieving optimal mechanical properties, including hardness and fracture toughness, by controlling grain size is a fundamental and long-standing objective in the development of hard and superhard transition metal borides (TMBs) ceramics. It is expected that the mechanical performance of TMBs will be substantially enhanced in nano-crystalline ceramics. However, the fabrication of dense, nano-scale TMBs compacts presents challenges due to poor sintering behavior and pronounced grain growth at high temperature. Here, thanks to the pressure reduced activation energy effect, nano-polycrystalline tantalum diboride (NP-TaB2) monoliths were fabricated under high pressure and moderate temperature conditions. These NP-TaB2 bulks achieve dense microstructure with an average grain size as fine as 36 ​nm, due to the high nucleation rates and minimal grain growth induced by high pressure. With the decreasing of grain size, the hardness of NP-TaB2 reaches up to 27.5 ​GPa by the Hall-Petch effect, making it nearly 45
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
DO  - DOI:10.1016/j.apmate.2025.100374
UR  - https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/record/645035
ER  -