Vacuum freeze-drying assisted preparation of spherical AlB2 powders with ultrafine microstructure

In this paper, we report the preparation of the spherical AlB2 powders with uniform particle size, high crystallinity and free of agglomeration. The spherical powders were fabricated by a facile solid state reaction involving the initial preparation of homogenously mixed elemental reactants via the vacuum freeze-drying method. The obtained AlB2 powders with spherical structure and narrow size distribution showed enhanced sphericity and uniformity when being compared with the ones previously reported. The ultrafine microstructure contributed to agglomerate-free and good flowability, which could efficiently improve its combustion performance. The good antioxidative activity, stable combustion rate and high volumetric heat (53.31 kJ/g) made itself as great potential candidate as high-energy density fuel additives.