Generation and characterization of nano-tungsten carbide particles by wire explosion process

The nano-tungsten carbide particles were produced by exploding tungsten conductor in different carburizing medium viz, carbon dioxide and methane atmosphere. The influence of gas pressure in explosion chamber on the size of the particles formed was analyzed. Methane gas was found to be a conducive medium to form tungsten carbide particles. Certain physico-chemical diagnostic studies such as wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy studies were carried out to characterize the nano-tungsten carbide powder produced by the wire explosion process. The size of the particles was measured by using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and its size distribution was analyzed by adopting log-normal distribution. Thermal conductivity of the gas plays a major role on the size of the particle formed by wire explosion process as observed in the present work. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.