Tungsten carbide nano powder obtained by mechanical alloying in high energy mill

Powder metallurgy is a leading area in materials science, the preferred route for the production of materials with specific properties, such as cutting tools and other wear resistant parts.
Among the powder manufacturing technologies, mechanosynthesis plays an important role because it allows to form alloys in solid phase from immiscible components.
The synthesis of tungsten carbide powder by direct carburizing of tungsten oxide in one step, using the mechanical alloying method, is possible but requires very tough conditions for milling installation. Tungsten carbide is generally produced by chemical processes and subsequently subjected to long grinding processes to obtain the desired granulometry.
In order to improve this grinding process, we subjected a commercial tungsten carbide powder to milling in a planetary mill Pulverisette 7 Premium line at rotational speeds of 300, 400, 500 and 600 rpm using balls of various sizes for maximum 10 hours. The resulting powder was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and laser granulometry. After different periods of grinding, we observe a reduction in size of the tungsten carbide particles, at least 50% of the powder having a grain size smaller than 1 Aµm.