Abstract <p>Through thermal explosion reaction, a composite coating was formed on the surface of cubic boron nitride particles using Ti/carbon black/polytetrafluoroethylene/cubic boron nitride powders as raw materials. The results indicate that after the thermal explosion reaction, the coating on the surface of cubic boron nitride particles mainly comprised Ti, TiC, TiN, and TiB₂ phases. When the cubic boron nitride content in the raw material was less than 50%, its surface was well coated. The coating had a relatively small structure composed of a large number of nanoscale particles. A reaction mechanism underlying the thermal explosion-induced surface coating of cubic boron nitride had been proposed.</p>