BAM is a
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
alloyAn alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history...
created from an alloy of
boronBoron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a trivalent metalloid element which occurs abundantly in the evaporite ores borax and ulexite....
,
aluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
and
magnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole...
(AlMgB
14) and
titanium borideTitanium diboride is an extremely hard ceramic compound composed of titanium and boron which has excellent resistance to mechanical erosion...
(TiB
2). It is one of the hardest known materials, after
diamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is the second most stable form of carbon, after graphite; however, the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is...
and cubic boron nitride. It's also the slipperiest solid known, with a coefficient of friction of 0.02; for comparison, Teflon products have coefficients of friction (dynamic) of 0.05 and higher.
The material was discovered in the course of other investigations by Bruce Cook and
Iowa State UniversityThe Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced a number of astronauts, scientists, Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners,...
professor Alan Russell in 1999 at the U.S.
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BAM is a
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
alloyAn alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history...
created from an alloy of
boronBoron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a trivalent metalloid element which occurs abundantly in the evaporite ores borax and ulexite....
,
aluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
and
magnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole...
(AlMgB
14) and
titanium borideTitanium diboride is an extremely hard ceramic compound composed of titanium and boron which has excellent resistance to mechanical erosion...
(TiB
2). It is one of the hardest known materials, after
diamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is the second most stable form of carbon, after graphite; however, the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is...
and cubic boron nitride. It's also the slipperiest solid known, with a coefficient of friction of 0.02; for comparison, Teflon products have coefficients of friction (dynamic) of 0.05 and higher.
The material was discovered in the course of other investigations by Bruce Cook and
Iowa State UniversityThe Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced a number of astronauts, scientists, Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners,...
professor Alan Russell in 1999 at the U.S. Department of Energy's
Ames LaboratoryAmes Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Ames, Iowa. The Laboratory conducts research into various areas of national concern, including the synthesis and study of new materials, energy resources, high-speed computer design, and environmental cleanup...
.
"Its hardness was discovered by accident. We had a terrible time cutting it, grinding it, or polishing it," said Russell.
The BAM material is amenable to application as a hard, wear-resistant coating, using
pulsed laser depositionPulsed laser deposition is a thin film deposition technique where a high power pulsed laser beam is focused inside a vacuum chamber to strike a target of the material that is to be deposited...
or magnetron sputtering. Applying a thin coating to moving parts of machinery that would reduce friction and increase wear resistance could have a significant effect in boosting efficiency. Cutting tools could also be improved by such a coating.
BAM is licensed to Newtech Ceramics, an Iowa-based startup company located in
Des MoinesDes Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
.