Composite material, components comprising same and method of using same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018215671-A1
Application number	US-201615746835-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 17, 2016
Priority date	Aug 20, 2015
Publication date	Aug 2, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A composite material comprising 50 to 95 mass % grains of primary material selected from the group consisting of talc, mica, graphite and hexagonal boron nitride, and 0.01 to 40 mass % fibres having a length of 0.05 to 20 mm, and a ratio of length to diameter of at least 5. The grains of the primary material have a mean size of 3 to 50 microns.

First claim

1 . Composite material comprising
50 to 95 mass % grains of primary material selected from the group consisting of talc, mica, graphite and hexagonal boron nitride; and 0.01 to 40 mass % fibres having
a mean length of 0.05 to 20 mm, and
a ratio of length to diameter of at least 5; in which
the grains of the primary material have a mean size of 3 to 150 microns.

2 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the fibres have a mean length of at least 0.1 mm, the ratio of length to diameter is at least 10 and the grains of the primary material have a mean size of 5 microns.

3 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , comprising
0.01 to 40 mass % grains of a secondary material comprising material selected from the group consisting of ceramic material, cubic boron nitride (cBN) or diamond.

4 . The composite material as claimed in claim 3 , in which
the secondary hard material grains have a mean size of 1 to 200 microns.

5 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , in which
the mean length of the fibres is at least 20 times their mean diameter.

6 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , comprising
at least 0.1 mass % fibres, and in which the fibres have a mean length of at least 0.5 mm.

7 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , in which
the fibres comprise carbon, metal or ceramic material.

8 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , in which
the fibres are in the form of continuous fibres, tangled fibres, multi-fibres, single fibres, or chopped fibres.

9 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , in which
at least 50% of the fibres have a length within 20% of the mean length of the fibres.

10 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , comprising
inorganic binder material.

11 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , in which
the primary material consists of talc, and the fibres consist of any of carbon, SiC and alumina.

12 . The composite material as claimed claim 11 , comprising grains of secondary material comprising silicon carbide, zircon, mullite or garnet.

13 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , comprising
solvent and/or catalyst material for promoting the transformation of hBN into cubic boron nitride (cBN); in which the primary material consists of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN).

14 . The composite material as claimed in claim 13 , in which
the fibres consist of carbon, or comprise a compound including titanium (Ti).

15 . The composite material as claimed in claim 13 , comprising
grains of cBN crystals having a mean size of at least 10 microns.

16 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 , in which
the primary material consists of graphite, and the fibres consist of carbon.

17 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 ,
in the form of a compact having density of at least 95% of the theoretical density of its constituent materials, the density contribution of each material weighted according to its mass % in the composite material.

18 . The composite material as claimed in claim 1 ,
in the form of a non-bonded aggregation of powder grains.

19 . A component comprising composite material as claimed in claim 1 .

20 . A component as claimed in claim 19 , for a capsule for an ultra-high pressure press, comprising
a gasket, a containment vessel, an electrically conducting heater element, an electrical insulation component, or a reaction compact.

21 . A component as claimed in claim 19 , consisting of
a gasket for a belt-type press, a tetrahedral-type press or a cubic-type press for pressurising a reaction assembly at an ultra-high pressure of at least 1 GPa; comprising composite material as claimed in claim 1 .

22 . A component as claimed in claim 19 , consisting of
a heater element for a belt-type press, a tetrahedral-type press or a cubic-type press for pressurising a reaction assembly at an ultra-high pressure of at least 1 GPa; comprising composite material as claimed in claim 15 .

23 . A component as claimed in claim 19 , consisting of
a reaction compact for synthesising cBN crystals in a belt-type press, a tetrahedral-type press or a cubic-type press for pressurising a reaction assembly at an ultra-high pressure of at least 1 GPa; comprising composite material as claimed in claim 12 .

24 . A method of using a component as claimed in claim 19 , in which
the component is for a capsule assembly for an ultra-high pressure press, and the method includes assembling a capsule including the component within the ultra-high pressure press, and using the ultra-high pressure press to pressurise at least a volume of the capsule assembly to at least 1 GPa.

25 . A method of using a component as claimed in claim 24 , in which
the component consists of a gasket for a belt-type ultra-high pressure press comprising a pair of opposable anvils and a die, and the method includes providing a pair of the components; and assembling the capsule assembly within the die, in which each component is placed against a respective end of the die.

26 . A method of using a component as claimed in claim 24 , in which
the component consists of a gasket for a cubic-type ultra-high pressure press, comprising three pairs of opposable anvils, and the method includes assembling the capsule assembly including the component between all three pairs of anvils.

27 . Composite material comprising
50 to 95 mass % grains of primary material having a mean grain size of 3 to 150 microns, and 0.01 to 40 mass % fibres having
a mean length of 0.05 to 20 mm, and
a ratio of length to diameter of at least 5; in which
the primary material has the characteristic that
it exhibits basal cleavage when in crystal form; and/or
it has hardness on the Mohs scale of at most 2; and/or
it has Young's modulus of at most 500 MPa when in crystal form; and/or
it is suitable for use in a gasket for an ultra-high pressure press.

Assignees

• Element Six Uk Ltd

Inventors

• Sani Mohammad Najafi
• Zhang Xiaoxue
• Mukherji Suchi Subhra

Classifications

• C04B2235/5436

  micrometer sized, i.e. from 1 to 100 micron · CPC title

• C04B2235/5224

  Alumina or aluminates · CPC title

• C04B2235/5264

  characterised by the diameter of the fibers · CPC title

• C04B35/80 Primary

  Fibres, filaments, whiskers, platelets, or the like · CPC title

• C04B2235/526

  characterised by the length of the fibers · CPC title