LAUSR

Abstract This paper presents the experimental data on the synthesis of titanium diboride (TiB 2 ) fine dispersed powder carried out in laboratory scale. TiB 2 powder was prepared by the reduction of titanium dioxide with boron carbide and nanofibrous carbon in an argon atmosphere. The powders of TiB 2 were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental analyses, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, particle size analysis, simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC). The resulting material contains a single phase – titanium diboride. The particles of the powder were predominantly aggregated. The average size of the particles and the aggregates were 7.4–8.0 µm with a wide size of distribution. The specific surface values of samples obtained were 2.4–5.8 m 2 /g. The oxidation of titanium diboride began from the temperature of 450 °C. In this work, the optimal synthesis conditions were estimated: the molar ratio was TiO 2 :B 4 C:C=2:1:3 (according to stoichiometry), the temperature was 1600 °C, the process duration was 20–30 min.