Abstract:
Carbothermal reduction of WO3 is one of the primary methods for producing tungsten powder, and the reduction kinetics of WO3 directly influence the morphology, particle size, and uniformity of the final powder. In this study, the non-isothermal kinetic behavior of WO3 during carbothermal reduction was systematically investigated using thermal analysis techniques. The results show that the apparent activation energy decreases from 586.5 kJ·mol-1 to 307.9 kJ·mol-1 as the conversion increases, with an average value of 419.0 kJ·mol-1. The reduction process follows a second-order reaction model with a kinetic function of G(α) = (1-α)-1-1, and the linear correlation coefficient R2 exceeds 0.99. Based on the apparent activation energies, kinetic functions, and pre-exponential factors obtained from both model-free and model-fitting methods, a kinetic model capable of predicting the carbothermal reduction behavior of WO3 was established, providing a theoretical foundation for optimizing carbothermal reduction processes.