Xinhua News Agency, Changsha, August 21 (Reporter Xie Ying) On the 21st, the reporter learned from Central South University that Huang Boyun, an academician team of the National Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy of Central South University, has developed a new ceramic coating and its composite materials that can resist 3000 ℃ ablation through a large number of experiments. This discovery may pave the way for the development of hypersonic aircraft.

Xiong Xiang, Professor of the Powder Metallurgy Research Institute of Central South University, said that hypersonic flight means that its flight speed is equal to or greater than five times the sound speed, that is, at least 6120 kilometers per hour. At such a high speed, the flight from Beijing to New York can be completed within 2 hours, provided that the key structural components of the aircraft can withstand severe air friction and the impact of hot air flow up to 2000-3000 ℃ without being damaged. The ultra-high temperature ceramic coating and its composites newly discovered by Central South University can provide better protection for the above components.

This ceramic is a multi-element boron containing single-phase carbide with a stable carbide crystal structure, which is composed of Zr, Ti, C and B. The R&D team introduced the multi-element ceramic phase into the porous carbon/carbon composites using the fusion infiltration process, thereby obtaining a new type of carbon/carbon composites modified by Zr-Ti-C-B ceramic coating with great potential.

"Because this ultra-high temperature ceramic combines the high-temperature adaptability of carbide and the oxidation resistance of boride, the above coatings and composites show superior ablation resistance and thermal shock resistance, and are promising candidate materials for key components of hypersonic aircraft." Xiong Xiang said.

The research results developed by the team were published in Nature Communications on June 15. The State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy of Central South University was the first author of this paper, Professor Xiong Xiang was the first corresponding author, and Dr. Zeng Yi was the first author. The partner, the University of Manchester, UK, has carried out characterization and analysis research on this material.

Once published, the article received extensive attention from foreign academic circles and media. In the first three days after publication, the number of downloads exceeded 5000, while the number of downloads of other articles published on the same day was 300-900. Dozens of mainstream media and authoritative academic institutions in the world, such as the Daily Mail of the United Kingdom, The Economist, Yahoo, Popular Machinery of the United States, and the Russian Satellite News Agency, have paid extensive attention to and reported on this research achievement. The reviewer of the journal Nature Communication believes that "the above research results will ignite the research enthusiasm and interest of the academic community in the application of quaternary system materials in the hypersonic field, because it represents a material system with great application prospects."

Since 2002, with the support of the National 863, 973 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and under the leadership of Professor Xiong Xiang, a Changjiang scholar, the team has tried to find a new ultra-high temperature ceramic coating material with excellent oxidation resistance and ablation resistance, starting with the medium high temperature (<1600 ℃) oxidation resistance coating of carbon/carbon composites. In the process of research, the selected material systems range from the initial silicon carbide to dozens of systems such as tantalum carbide, titanium carbide, zirconium carbide, zirconium boride, hafnium carbide, and hundreds of high temperature materials, involving almost all existing ultra-high temperature ceramics and high temperature composite materials. Up to now, a breakthrough has been achieved in the development of a new ablation resistant ceramic coating under an ultra-high temperature environment of 3000 ℃, which lasted for 15 years