In-Situ Reduction/Carburization of WO3 in the Presence of Hydrocarbon

Among transition metal carbides, tungsten carbide (WC) with a wide range of particle size is used in industrial applications as cemented carbide. This work deals with the synthesis of nano crystalline tungsten carbide powders using solvothermal route. A mixture of WO₃+Mg+C (hydrocarbon) was heated in a sealed autoclave. Possibility of different reactions to obtain nanocrystalline WC has been studied. As compared with the conventional methods, the present preparation method is remarkably simplified one and involves low cost. To facilitate the reactions excess amount of hydrocarbon (C₃H₆O, C₆H₁₄) were taken to compensate the loss of C in the form of CO and CO₂. The synthesized powders were characterized by XRD, FESEM and TEM/HRTEM to analyze the purity, morphological features and particles size of obtained product and analyze further electrochemical stability in the presence of acidic medium.