Ternary phases BxCSiy at high pressure and temperature: modeling and synthesis – BCSi

The focus of the BCSi project is on the development of new ceramic(s) guided by ab initio and thermochemistry calculations, with the purpose of achieving high mechanical properties in a domain of stresses where standard boron carbide fails. We target the exploration of new ideas for the modeling and innovative synthesis at high pressure (HP) and high temperature (HT) of ternary phases BxCSiy, in which silicon atoms are introduced to reinforce the tri-atomic C-B-C chains with the help of HP-HT. Indeed, so far, silicon has only been reported as a doping element at ambient pressure in the literature. Contrastingly, our preliminary calculations show that high pressure favors the thermodynamical stability of some of the compositions. Experiments will be performed at CNRS-IMPMC and CNRS-ICMCB with the extremely high expertise in materials synthesis under extreme conditions: pressure/temperature required by the project. They will be guided by calculations performed at CEA-LSI and CNRS-IRCER.