Brazing concept

A mechanical mixture of two or more components comprising at least one boron source and at least one silicon source, wherein the components have an average particle size less than 250 μm, and each component is either (i) of a silicon source selected from the group consisting of at least one of elemental silicon, ferro silicon, iron silicides, silicon carbides, and silicon borides or (ii) of a boron source selected from the group consisting of at least one of elemental boron, boron carbides, nickel borides, and silicon borides,

• wherein the mechanical mixture comprises boron and silicon in a weight ratio boron to silicon within a range from about 5:100 to about 1:1,
• wherein silicon and boron are together present in the mechanical mixture in at least 25 wt %, and
• wherein the at least one boron source and the at least one silicon source are oxygen free except for inevitable amounts of contaminating oxygen, and wherein the inevitable amount of contaminating oxygen is less than 10 wt %.