What is the structure of boron carbide?
The most stable boron carbide structure is B13C2, B12C3, B4C and other phases close to B12C3 with rhombohedral structure. In addition, there are some metastable boron carbide structures. The rhombohedral structure of boron carbide includes 12 icosahedral atomic clusters, which are connected to each other by covalent bonds, and have a three-atom chain on the diagonal of the rhombohedron. The dodecahedron of polyboron The structures are located at the vertices of the rhombohedron. Boron atoms and carbon atoms can replace each other in the icosahedron and on the atomic chain, which is the main reason why boron carbide has so many isomers. The most widely accepted B4C structure is one with a BllC icosahedron and a C—B—C chain of atoms.
