Hexagonal Boron Nitride Powder | cdn11.bigcommerce.com
Boron Nitride is a chemical refractory and non-toxic chemical with superior electrical resistance. Commonly it is available in the form of a white graphite powder and no wonder to the fact it is referred to as inorganic graphite. Before we go ahead there is a need to understand the properties of boron nitride and how it may turn out to be useful.
Hexagonal boron nitride powder
One of the common forms of crystalline boron nitrides is hexagonal boron nitride powder and it arises due to its stability. If ammonia reacts with boric acid in a nitrogen atmosphere it would result in the formation of H- BN. It is through the method of hot pressing that hexagonal boron nitride goes on to formulate dense shapes and this can be obtained due to poor sinterability.
The main reason why HBN is known is due to its lubricious and non-abrasive nature. Due to the interesting chemical and physical properties, the main use of hexagonal boron nitride powder extends to various industries like plastic, automobile industry etc. In the case of the latter HBN is used for the sealing of oxygen sensors. The moment you mix it with boron nitride their use tends to be in the form of a vacuum. The main use of HBN is in the form of an electrically insulating material or a heat-resistant material.
Cubic boron nitride
It has properties similar to that of diamonds, though you may not consider it to as be as hard as it sounds. The cubic boron nitride tends to emerge when you heat hexagonal boron nitride powder at a high temperature that is pretty much like a synthetic diamond formulated from graphite. This works out to be one of the forms of boron nitride.
The use of cubic boron nitride is that it turns out to be a good insulator and its main use is in the cutting of abrasive steel. Other than that cubic boron nitride has good thermal conductivity and goes on to possess special properties like toughness etc. Even it would be much easier to produce than HBN.
There are valuable applications of boron nitride powder and their classification takes place in the form of a non-hazardous substance. But hazardous levels of airborne particles can be generated since it involves a process where the dust along with the fumes is released in the form of grinding, cutting etc.
The main use of boron nitride is in cosmetics industries and examples are eye foundation, lipsticks etc. Though a lot of studies are necessary to explore the potentiality of HBN in detail it comes to the fore that HBN and its uses extend to the biomedical domain.
Robert Eliot 