It has a high hardness of 21.3 GPa and can withstand temperatures over 4000 degrees celsius.

The hardness is higher than in other promising materials, such as ZrB2/SiC (20.9 GPa) and HfB2/SiC/TaSi2 (18.1 GPa).

Brown University (U.S.) had previously predicted that hafnium carbonitride would have a high thermal conductivity and resistance to oxidation, as well as the highest melting point among all known compounds (approximately 4200 degrees C).

The specific melting point of the new material is above 4000 degrees C, and could not be determined precisely in the laboratory. In the future, the team plans to conduct experiments on measuring the melting temperature by high-temperature pyrometry using a laser or electric resistance. They also plan to study the performance of the resulting hafnium carbonitride in hypersonic conditions, which will be relevant for further application in the aerospace industry.