Research progress on preparation, densification sintering, microstructure, and properties of tungsten diboride powders

Tungsten diboride (WB₂) has attracted the great attention, due to the excellent mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, wear resistance, and neutron absorption ability, showing a wide application prospect as the machining tools and wear-resistant materials. However, similar to the other transition metal borides, the full consolidation of WB₂ is difficult to achieve, and the obtained WB₂ hardness is much lower than the theoretical one, which severely limits the broad industrial applications. The progress on the synthesis and sintering methods of the WB₂ powders and WB₂ bulks was investigated in this paper, the effect of sintering aids on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the WB₂ ceramics was reviewed and summarized, and the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods were compared to explore the better preparation process of WB₂ powders and bulks.