Electrochemical Production of Tungsten Powders from Tungsten Hardmetal Waste

• Published in: Powder metallurgy and metal ceramics 2020, Vol.58 (9-10), p.499-502
• Main Authors: Tul’skij, G.G., Liashok, L.V., Osmanova, M.P., Kolupaev, I.N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cemented carbides; Ceramics; Cesium bromides; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Electrolysis; Glass; Industrial wastes; International economic relations; Manufacturing Technology; Materials Science; Melts; Metal powders; Metallic Materials; Morphology; Natural Materials; Particle size; Potassium chloride; Powders; Production methods; Properties of Powders and Fibers; Raw materials; Theory; Tungsten; Tungsten carbide; Tungsten industry; Ultrafines
• ISSN: 1068-1302; 1573-9066
• DOI: 10.1007/s11106-020-00102-3

Hardmetals intended to perform in harsh operating conditions are developed with the use of metallic powders, in particular, tungsten powders. The growing consumption of tungsten in industry necessitates the improvement of techniques employed to produce it from industrial waste. The objective of this research effort was to reduce metallic tungsten (as a powder) from chloride and chloride–fluoride melts and determine the factors influencing its particle size. The starting material was tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) produced electrochemically from processed raw material (VK-6 tungsten carbide pseudoalloy). The melts were KCl–NaCl–CsBr and NaCl–KCl–CsBr–Na 3 WO 3 F 3 eutectic mixtures. When the melt with a high WO 2 F 4 2− content was subjected to electrolysis, tungsten precipitated as a superfine powder. The precipitate morphology showed that the tungsten particle size was dependent on electrolysis conditions. A relatively inexpensive and effective method of producing tungsten powders was developed upon the research.