Thermogravimetric study of the oxidation mechanism of WC powder
摘要
The oxidation process of polydisperse WC powder obtained by carburization of tungsten powder obtained by electrical explosion of wire was investigated. The purpose of this study is to determine the kinetic parameters of the WC powder oxidation process using mathematical processing method of thermogravimetric analysis data. The oxidation of WC powder has been shown to be a one-step process and proceeds in the range of 813–959 K giving highest oxide WO3 with no oxidation intermediate products. The kinetic parameters of the oxidation process were determined—the average value of the apparent activation energy Ea ≈ 219 kJ mol−1 and the average value of the pre-exponential factor A = 3.62 × 1012 min−1. The reaction model has been found to be An model, Avrami–Erofeev model, (f(α) = n(1 − α)[‒ln(1 − α)]1–1/n) controlled by random nucleation, and further nuclei growth limited by diffusion of oxygen through the growing oxide layer on the surface of particles is the most probable reaction model in describing the reaction process of WC powder oxidation.