Variation of Tungsten Oxide Reduction Mode Using Different High Energy Milling Conditions

Abstract

High energy ball milling has been used like alternative route for processing of materials. In the present paper, the reduction of tungsten oxide by aluminum in order to obtain metallic tungsten was studied using a SPEX type high energy mill. A powdered mixture of WO3and metallic aluminum, weighed according to the stoichiometric proportion with an excess 10% Al, was processed with hardened steel utensils using a 1:6 powder-to-ball ratio. The processing was carried out with milling jar temperature measurement in order to detect the reaction type. The temperature evaluation indicated the self-propagating reaction occurrence by fast increase of the jar temperature after a short milling time. The tungsten oxide reduction was verified by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis and the milling products were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results were slightly different from the literature due to the mill type and milling parameters used in the work.