Refractory Monocarbides and Diborides of Transition Metals: Promising Components of High-Temperature Composite Materials

—Development of innovative composite materials capable of operating under extreme conditions requires a comprehensive engineering approach. One of the components of such materials can be represented by monocarbides and diborides of transition metals of groups IV–VI of the periodic table: titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, as well as their binary systems. Most isomorphic pairs of monocarbides and ddiborides are characterized by unlimited mutual solubility. The HfC–TaC system is of particular interest. The melting point of TaC–4HfC exceeds 4000°C, which is the highest refractoriness among all known synthesized substances.