Refractory Thin-Films Derived from Organometallic Polymers

Refractory materials are critical for the ultra-high temperature environments that are encountered in diverse settings, from turbine blades to the leading edges of objects travelling at hypersonic speeds through the atmosphere, such as railgun projectiles or reentry craft. Hafnium carbide and hafnium diboride are refractory materials with melting points in excess of 3200°C. Our goal is to develop a versatile polymer precursor-based route to produce hafnium carbide and hafnium diboride using reductive techniques to couple haloform monomers and oxidative methods to couple borohydride monomers. The flexibility of the system we describe will also enable us to produce hafnium carbide and tantalum carbide solid solutions, which possess the highest reported melting point of any refractory, >4200°C. Critically, these polymeric precursors will provide potential pathway for producing conformal, thin and thick films suitable for the leading edges of hypersonic projectiles or reentry craft.