Synthesis of Vanadium Carbide Nanopowders via Mechanical Alloying and Microwave Heating Methods

Abstract

A simple and fast method of preparation of vanadium carbide (V₈C₇) nanopowders using mechanical alloying assisted microwave heating method was demonstrated. The micron-sized V₂O₅ and nano-sized carbon black were used as starting materials. The as-prepared powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. The experimental results show that the V₈C₇ powders can be obtained by microwave heating at 1 100 °C for 1 h (34wt% C). The synthesized powders show good dispersion and are mainly composed of spherical or near-spherical particles with a mean diameter of about 30 nm. The XPS spectra show that the surface of the specimen mainly consists of V, C, and O three species elements.

Keywords

vanadium carbide / mechanical alloying / microwave heating microstructure / nanopowders

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