HiSiaddi is an innovative foreign trade service provider driven by both technology transformation and foreign trade services. It has built a service system defined as "1+2+3+4=1" and can supply aluminum diboride sourced from multiple well-known original manufacturers. As an R&D-oriented foreign trade enterprise, HiSiaddi has repeatedly collaborated with factories on technology transformation and accurately captured market demands to resolve customized product requirements for aluminum diboride for clients. Below is a case illustrating how HiSiaddi delivered customized aluminum diboride solutions.
Should you require further customized service support, please contact HiSiaddi’s customer service team.
AeroComp S.L., located in the Madrid Aerospace High-Tech Industrial Park, is a core raw material supplier of mid-to-high-end lightweight aerospace composite materials and thermal protection coatings for aerospace applications in Southern Europe. Its products support Airbus component subcontract manufacturing and thermal barrier coating projects for Spanish military and aerospace research institutes. The company has long imported aerospace-grade high-purity aluminum diboride powder from the United States, with an annual procurement volume of 75 tons of customized-grade aluminum diboride. The raw material serves as the reinforcing phase for aerospace aluminum matrix composites and high-temperature corrosion-resistant protective coatings, subject to strict controls under EU REACH, RoHS and ASTM military testing standards for aerospace raw materials.
Driven by multiple challenges including production capacity contraction at U.S. original manufacturers, surging ocean freight, a 45% rise in import unit prices and extended delivery cycles up to 120 days, the client launched a localization substitution initiative for Chinese customized products, proposing non-standard mandatory technical indicators far exceeding standard industrial-grade aluminum diboride produced domestically. All off-the-shelf mass-produced aluminum diboride available on the market failed to meet aerospace operating conditions:
1. Phase Composition & Purity: Main crystal phase AlB₁₂ ≥93%, minor phase AlB₂ ＜4%; free aluminum and free boron each ≤0.2wt%, free of alumina and boron oxide impurities.
2. Particle Size Control: D50 = 3.0–3.5 μm, particle size distribution D90/D10 ≤2.6, no coarse agglomerated particles larger than 12 μm, ultrafine dust proportion ＜3%.
3. Stringent Impurity Control (Mandatory Aerospace Standard): Heavy metals including Fe, Cu and Ni each ＜7 ppm; alkali metals K and Na each ＜1 ppm; total oxygen content ≤0.50wt%. Excessive trace impurities directly cause intergranular corrosion and coating cracking failure of aerospace composites under high temperatures.
4. Customized Powder Surface Properties: Low activity and low agglomeration to fit the client’s vacuum hot-pressing composite forming process. The tensile strength of composite materials after incorporation into aluminum matrix is increased by ≥18%.
The client previously independently collaborated with three domestic boride manufacturers for sample trial production, yet encountered consistent implementation hurdles. Most domestic manufacturers adopt molten aluminothermic reduction to mass-produce standard industrial-grade aluminum diboride, with production lines designed for refractory materials and general wear-resistant fillers. Their synthetic temperature control, raw material purification and sealed post-processing equipment fail to meet aerospace material standards. Optimizing production processes would require retrofitting sealed synthesis furnaces and full ceramic classification production lines, incurring high investment costs, so most manufacturers were unwilling to modify mass production lines solely for high-end customization. Five batches of samples were air-freighted to Spanish aerospace laboratories for testing, all failing due to excessive minor phases, high oxygen content and severe powder agglomeration. With only 55 days remaining before the client’s mass production stockpile deadline for new aerospace products, the production line faced risks of raw material supply disruption and compensation for Airbus order breach. The client fully authorized foreign trade provider HiSiaddi to deliver a one-stop customized general contracting service covering indicator decomposition, screening of qualified manufacturers, targeted process optimization, multi-gradient sample preparation and full-chain export compliance.
HiSiaddi set up a special working group consisting of inorganic non-metallic material engineers, foreign trade project specialists and compliance specialists to sort out core pain points in customized aerospace-grade aluminum diboride: Localized excess aluminum during high-temperature aluminum-boron synthesis easily generates free aluminum and low-boron minor phases; high-temperature powder exposed to air after furnace discharge rapidly oxidizes and elevates oxygen content; carbon steel equipment used in crushing and classification wears out and leaches heavy metal impurities. The entire process relies on matched facilities including high-purity raw material sealed synthesis, inert atmosphere slow cooling and full ceramic lined crushing & classification lines, which small and medium-sized boride manufacturers lack. HiSiaddi eliminated manufacturers specializing in low-end refractory-grade aluminum diboride and designated specialized new material enterprises equipped with vacuum aluminothermic reduction sealed production lines, high-purity raw material pretreatment workshops and full ceramic air classification equipment for targeted customized R&D.
Standard industrial production uses ordinary metallurgical aluminum powder and industrial boron powder containing mineral-derived impurities. For this customized project, aerospace atomized high-purity aluminum powder and electronic-grade amorphous boron powder were adopted. Both raw materials underwent pickling impurity removal and vacuum low-temperature drying deoxygenation pretreatment to eliminate internal alkali metals and heavy metal impurities. All raw materials passed full ICP testing before furnace feeding, limiting initial impurities to below 5 ppm at the front-end stage.
The open aluminothermic reduction process was replaced with a sealed vacuum synthesis furnace protected by argon. Segmented stepwise heating was applied, with precise regulation of aluminum-boron feed molar ratio and constant temperature holding duration to inhibit excess aluminum from forming free aluminum impurities and reduce generation of low-boron AlB₂ minor phases. After synthesis, the furnace was naturally cooled to room temperature under inert atmosphere to avoid oxidation of high-temperature powder upon air exposure. Final finished products measured free aluminum at 0.17%, free boron at 0.14% and main AlB₁₂ phase at 93.6%, fully meeting the client’s phase composition indicators.
All carbon steel ball mill chambers were replaced; crushing and classification equipment adopted silicon nitride ceramic liners to eliminate iron, copper and other heavy metal impurities introduced by equipment wear. A three-step gradient air separation process was applied to sieve out coarse particles and ultrafine dust, stably achieving D50=3.2 μm and D90/D10=2.42, perfectly falling within the client’s particle size control range.
Finished aluminum diboride entered a vacuum low-temperature passivation furnace for low-temperature heat preservation to remove adsorbed oxygen on powder surfaces, lowering total oxygen content to 0.43wt%. Simultaneously, the dispersion process was optimized to eliminate hard agglomeration. Trial production of the client’s aluminum matrix composite delivered a 19.2% tensile strength improvement, exceeding the minimum customized threshold of 18%.
1. Small-Scale Sample Preparation (5 kg per batch): Finished products were packed in vacuum aluminum foil sealed iron drums, accompanied by CNAS third-party full-item test reports covering 17 tests including XRD phase analysis, oxygen-nitrogen analysis, full ICP impurity detection and laser particle size analysis. Batches were air-shipped to Spanish aerospace R&D laboratories. The first two batches adjusted synthesis temperature control and classification cutting parameters, while the third batch fully matched all indicators of original U.S. imported aluminum diboride. The client completed full aerospace reliability tests including composite hot-pressing forming, alternating high-low temperature cycling and high-temperature corrosion resistance, issuing a formal product qualification confirmation letter.
2. Pilot Scale-Up Trial Production (500 kg per batch): The finalized standardized mass production process was fully replicated for continuous stable production. Composite materials prepared from pilot raw materials passed ASTM certification issued by the Spanish Aerospace Materials Research Institute, and standardized mass production SOP operating documents were locked.
3. Customized Moisture-Proof and Explosion-Proof Packaging: Ultrafine aluminum diboride powder easily absorbs moisture and oxidizes. Coordinated by HiSiaddi, the factory adopted inner vacuum aluminum foil bags plus galvanized sealed iron drum packaging. Drum bodies printed bilingual Spanish-English warning labels in compliance with EU CLP regulations, marking CAS number, GHS hazard classification and REACH registration code to prevent product deterioration from moisture during ocean shipping.
HiSiaddi’s compliance team compiled bilingual 16-chapter SDS safety data sheets, product DoC declarations of conformity and batch-by-batch COA quality inspection documents in Spanish and English in accordance with Spanish chemical regulations and current REACH provisions. The team assisted with REACH pre-registration and online filing on the ECHA-SCIP database, submitting full compliance documents to Spanish customs brokers for pre-review in advance. The first trial order of 22 tons was shipped from Shanghai Port to Barcelona Port, passing customs inspection and warehousing smoothly with one-time verification of all documents upon arrival. After raw materials were formally launched into mass production, the defect rate of the client’s aerospace composite production line dropped from 21.5% in the sample stage to 0.31%. The comprehensive customized procurement cost decreased by 36.2% compared with original U.S. imports, and maritime delivery cycles were shortened from 120 days to 41 days. The remaining 53 tons were produced and shipped in four separate batches aligned with the client’s aerospace project production schedule, with all 75 tons of annual customized orders delivered on schedule.
In the following year, AeroComp S.L. renewed an annual long-term framework order for 89 tons of aluminum diboride. It also entrusted HiSiaddi with exclusive agency for all Chinese customized development, sample coordination, export compliance and customs clearance services for aerospace special boride powders including zirconium diboride and lanthanum hexaboride. Building on the successful delivery of this project, HiSiaddi successfully developed procurement businesses for boride products with two mid-to-high-end aerospace composite manufacturers in Portugal and Italy.
1. Industry Pain Points: Most domestic aluminum diboride manufacturers target low-end markets such as refractory materials and general wear-resistant fillers, adopting low-cost open aluminothermic reduction production lines without supporting facilities for sealed high-purity synthesis and full ceramic precision classification. Their products typically feature excessive minor phases, high oxygen content and high impurity levels. Downstream low-end domestic formulations have high tolerance margins, and product defects can be masked by additional additives. However, formulations of mid-to-high-end European aerospace clients are filed with local aerospace regulatory authorities, with restrictions prohibiting large-scale adjustments to matrix ratios and forming processes. Trace impurities or excessive minor phases in raw materials directly lead to mass scrapping of aerospace components. High investment required for technical upgrades for high-end customization discourages most manufacturers from undertaking such orders.
2. HiSiaddi’s Core Service Value: Breaking the traditional middleman model of reselling raw materials, HiSiaddi built a closed-loop full-chain technical service system covering overseas customized indicator decomposition, upstream raw material purification control, special technical transformation of synthesis processes, multi-stage sample aerospace verification, customized protective packaging and cross-border compliance customs clearance. It bridges the two-way information barrier: domestic manufacturers lack familiarity with EU aerospace raw material regulations, while overseas clients lack understanding of domestic refined powder customization capacity. Value-added customized technical services enable deep long-term cooperation binding with mid-to-high-end end clients in Europe and the U.S.
3. High-End Client Procurement Logic: For Southern European aerospace new material manufacturers, procurement priority ranking follows: physical and chemical indicators & formulation compatibility > batch stability > full-chain compliance guarantee > procurement cost. One-stop non-standard customized implementation capacity is the core driver for sustaining long-term long-framework orders.
Should you require further customized service support, please contact HiSiaddi’s customer service team.
+86-13120989737 
info@hisiaddi.com 
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