“…Despite the high interest in TiB2, its optical properties are, to the best of our knowledge, totally unexplored, as far as bulk materials are concerned. Indeed, the only literature source is limited to the spectral range from 0.4 to 1.0μm and is referred to thin films [52].The present investigation is first aimed to the optimization of the SPS conditions for the full densification of additive free TiB2 powders synthesized by SHS. In this regard, it should be noted that the combination of the SHS and the SPS techniques was recently exploited for the fabrication of other UHTC systems, both in monolithic [11,53,54] and composite forms [55][56][57][58][59].Subsequently, in the present work we report on microstructure, topological characterization, and hemispherical reflectance spectra in the wavelength range 0.3-15 μm of TiB2 produced by the twosteps SHS-SPS technique, with the aim to evaluate the material potential for solar absorber applications.…”