The preparation of tungsten carbides and tungsten powders by reaction of tungsten trioxide with methanol

In the present study, a new and simple method to prepare tungsten and tungsten carbides powders was proposed by using WO 3 powders as the raw material and CH 3 OH vapor as the reduction and carbonization agent. Both thermodynamic and experimental studies were carried out, and based on the results, the reaction routes were obtained. It was found that at low and moderate temperatures, the final product of WC was formed via intermediates of W 18 O 49 , WO 2 , partial metallic W and W 2 C; while at high temperature, WO 3 was first reduced to WO 2 with the intermediate phase of W 18 O 49 , and then reduced to W. The morphology of final products almost retained the same shape as that of raw materials WO 3 at low temperature, however, the large particles with blocky shape disappeared and the products were all small W particles with polyhedral shape at high temperature. Furthermore, the reaction mechanisms were proposed: the pseudomorphic transformation mechanism dominated the reaction at low temperature, but at high temperature, the reduction obeyed the chemical vapor transport mechanism, which is beneficial for grain refining of final product.