boron carbide

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a black, crystalline, extremely hard, water-insoluble solid, B 4 C, used chiefly as a moderator in nuclear reactors, as an abrasive, and as a refractory.

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boron carbide British  

noun

1. a black extremely hard inert substance having a high capture cross section for thermal neutrons. It is used as an abrasive and refractory and in control rods in nuclear reactors. Formula: B 4 C

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Example Sentences

In this case, iron and silicon films are used, mixed with isotopic enriched boron carbide.

From Science Daily

The improved mirror has been developed by researchers at Linköping University by coating a silicon plate with extremely thin layers of iron and silicon mixed with boron carbide.

From Science Daily

For example, the ceramic plates fitted into body armour are becoming better, with newer versions using materials such as boron carbide.

From BBC

The rods contained boron carbide, which hampered reactivity, but the Soviets decided to tip them in graphite, which facilitated reactivity; it was a bid to save energy, and therefore money, by lessening the rods’ moderating effect.

From New York Times

They inserted the control rods—graphite-tipped cylinders of boron carbide that slow or stop a nuclear reaction—too far into the reactor.

From The New Yorker