What is Boron Nitride (BN)?
- First of all, boron nitride is not poisonous or is a nontoxic waste so it is not harmful to the environment. It is thermal in nature, which means it has the ability to transfer or conduct heat that makes a material cool down.
- Combined with chemical content, it is a refractory compound or material so it does not decompose when subjected to any pressure or heat; instead, it remains strong and steady despite exposure to high temperatures or electrical compounds.
- When it comes to its color and form, BN is usually converted to powder but it can also be crystallized form. It is white colored in powder and transparent in crystal form.
- Although BN is synthetic, it is considered an advanced ceramic material. It is known as white graphene to many mainly due to its hexagonal appearance in crystal form though it is highly resistant to oxidation.
Overall, BN is highly resistant to heat and electricity, easy to process, lubricious, and helps in minimizing power loss.
What does its structure look like?
In terms of structure, it takes 3 forms: hexagonal boron nitride or HBN (stable at exposure to normal temperature as well as pressure), cubic boron nitride (CBN) and wurtzitic boron nitride (WBN) (both become synthetics when exposed to high temperature as well as pressure).
- When it comes to softness, HBN is the softest of them all and is also the most stable when exposed to high temperature and pressure so it is highly recommended to be added onto beauty products and is even utilized as a lubricant.
- CBN, on the other hand, is described as hard in nature next to diamond. Since it is insoluble, it is often utilized as an abrasive compound and a coat to metals since it is highly resistant to oxidation.
- The third BN, WBN, is likened to lonsdaleite and is harder than cubic boron nitride.
What industries use BN?
Because of its great thermal conductivity, chemical stability, low COF (coefficient of friction), awesome dielectric constant and more, BN both in its powder and crystal form is used in different industries including aerospace, gas, electronics, oil, cosmetics and beauty, and manufacture of ceramics. Aside from this, BN is also utilized in the process of manipulating compounds on atomic scale in order to create new components or materials.
- HBN is a material in producing BN crucibles.
- CBN is used in heat spreaders.
- WBN is utilized in electronic and optical devices.
The list of available BN products include BN crucible, BN evaporation boat, BN nozzle, as well as custom BN ceramic.
