Quantitative phase analysis of cubic boron nitride based composites by X-ray absorption near edge structure

X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra of Ti, Si, B and N K-edges were investigated to determine the phase composition of multicompounds cubic boron nitride (cBN) based composites formed by reaction of cBN with Ti3SiC2 ceramics. Knowing that the shape of XANES spectra is a fingerprint of chemical bonding of the element in compound, a linear combination of XANES spectra of reference compounds (phases) was fitted to the spectra of the composites. This procedure permitted to determine the fraction of the componential phases in studied materials. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the presence of compounds detected by XANES analysis. The similarities and differences between XANES and XRD results are discussed. The combination of XANES and XRD techniques allowed to estimate the quantity of presented compounds within the limits of sensitivity of each method.