NETL is partnering with the University of Texas at El Paso to develop a novel technology for advanced, low-cost manufacture of boride-based ultrahigh-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) for direct power extraction applications. The project will determine optimal conditions of mechanical activation, self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS), and pressureless sintering for fabrication of doped zirconium diboride (ZrB₂) and hafnium diboride (HfB₂) that possess all the required properties to function as sustainable magnetohydrodynamic electrodes. The project will also determine thermophysical, electrical, mechanical, and oxidation properties of borides obtained by mechanically activated SHS followed by pressureless sintering. This effort will focus on the use of inexpensive materials such as zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂), hafnium oxide (HfO₂), boron trioxide (B2O₃), magnesium (Mg), and sodium chloride (NaCl), which could allow the production costs to be significantly less than in the case of synthesis from elements.