Thermal Oxidation of Nanosized Tantalum Diboride

We investigated the morphology and phase composition of tantalum diboride (TaB 2 ) oxidation products by oxygen in the air across a temperature range of 20 to 1000°C. At isothermal conditions of 450, 500, 550, and 600°C, we determined the oxidation rate constants for TaB 2 nanoparticles with an average particle diameter of ~70 nm (0.0006, 0.0027, 0.009, and 0.015 s –1 , respectively). The apparent activation energy for the oxidation reaction of TaB 2 nanoparticles, derived from the temperature dependence of the rate constants, was estimated to be 115 ± 6 kJ/mol.