Purification attempts of b4c powders produced by metallothermic process

In this study, purification of boron carbide powder produced via the self propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) was investigated by using different thermal techniques. In the previous studies, MgO and other impurities in the SHS product were removed by HCl leaching resulted in the synthesis of submicron sized boron carbide powder with the purity of 97 %. Thermal purification investigations were realized both under vacuum and inert atmosphere for removal of free carbon content in the final product while hydrometallurgical purification experiments were also carried out. Products were characterised by using X-ray diffraction, chemical analysis and SEM techniques.