Products of carbothermal reduction of tungsten oxides in argon flow

The investigation into carbothermal reduction of tungsten oxides has shown that this process involves several steps: WO 3 → WO 2.72 → WO 2 → W. The resulting oxide is rapidly reduced to tungsten metal at 950°C. The carbidization process has a diffusion mechanism. The staged character of carbothermal reduction of tungsten oxides and subsequent carbidization of tungsten are confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, which made it possible to determine the phase composition and size of the resulting particles.