Energy-Saving Synthesis of Very Fine Tungsten Carbide Powder

Abstract

An energy-saving method is proposed for synthesizing very fine tungsten carbide powder within which the starting tungsten-containing raw material used is ammonium paratungstate, pressed with carbon-containing material. The tungsten carbide preparation method proposed provides marked energy saving as a result of reducing temperature and starting reagent heating duration. Predominance of tungsten carbide particles in synthesized material is demonstrated, corresponding to two main size ranges: 100 – 200 nm and 2.0 – 8.0 μm. Clear facets are typical for particles of the micron range, missing from nanosize particles.