Production of carbide and hard-alloy mixture nanopowders with low-temperature plasma

Abstract

The processes to produce nanosized tungsten carbide powders as well as other transition metal carbides have been investigated with the use of plasma-chemical reduction synthesis. The basic regularities of producing powders of specified dispersion and composition have been determined. Characteristic particle sizes of carbides are 40–80 nm. For the purpose of homogeneous WC–Со nanopowders mixture production with exact mass content, a technique of cobalt sedimentation onto tungsten carbide powder with simultaneous adding of retardant-carbides such as chromium, va- nadium, and tantalum carbides has been developed. The produced nanopowders have been examined with modern methods including high-reso- lution SEM and fractional gas analysis.