To provide vanadium carbide powders of a high purity (≥16 wt.% of the bonded carbon; ≤0.5 wt.% of oxygen content; ≤0.5 wt.% of nitrogen content) having a spherical shape with an average particle size of ≤1.0 μm, useful for improving the characteristics of ultrafine hard metal alloys, and to provide a method of producing vanadium carbide powders that have constant characteristics, for example, constant particle size, carbon content, oxygen content or the like.
The objective vanadium carbide powder is produced by heating a mixture of vanadium oxide powder with an average particle size of ≤2.0 μm and carbon powder with an average particle size of ≤1.0 μm is heated in a nitrogen gas stream at 400-1,000°C, then heating the resultant mixture in a hydrogen gas stream at 1,300-1,800°C and crushing the resultant mixture. The crushed vanadium carbide powder is spherical with an average particle size ≤1.0 μm and high purity including ≥16 wt.% of bonded carbon content, ≤0.5 wt.% of oxygen content and ≤0.5 wt.% nitrogen content.
HAYASHI TAKEHIKO
SUZAKI TAKAMASA
