Solid-state synthesis of tungsten carbide from tungsten oxide and carbon, and its catalysis by nickel

Tungsten carbide has been produced by heating a mixture of tungsten oxide and carbon powder at 1300 °C for 2 h. Further batches were made with additional KCl, KCl + Ni, or KCl + Fe. The products were compared by XRD and SEM. A mixture of WC and W 2C was produced from the plain WO 3/carbon reaction, but adding 1 wt.% nickel assisted the formation of a pure WC phase. Both Ni and Fe assisted the growth of larger WC crystals.