Templated Synthesis of Boron Suboxide

There is a significant need to reduce the weight and improve ballistic performance of protective equipment of the warfighter. While current high hardness and high toughness ceramic strikeface materials, including boron carbide (B4C), silicon carbide (SiC), and B4C/SiC hybrids, are robust, they come at a significant weight cost. Boron suboxide (B6O) is an even harder material that is a promising weight saving material for armor protection applications, however current synthesis methods are inefficient, demonstrate limited stoichiometry that impacts material characteristics and performance, and is produced in limited quantities of materials for research. There is a significant need to improve boron suboxide production. Lynntech is developing a novel template synthesis scheme which combines pre-formed chemical moieties to generate the desired extended lattice structure. Lynntech’s approach avoids potential pitfalls with regards to the single-atom substitutional disorder within the produced lattice. Lynntech’s new process is intended to provide stoichiometric boron suboxide in bulk quantities.