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Mechanistic study of the reduction of MoO2 to Mo2C under methane pulse conditions

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Abstract

Molybdenum carbide (Mo2C), an interstitial transition metal carbide, has been used in a myriad of industrial applications due to its refractory nature, extreme hardness and strength, and high electrical and thermal conductivity. It also possesses catalytic activity for many chemical processes such as hydrodeoxygenation, reforming, water–gas shift, and the Fischer–Tropsch reaction. Among the current synthesis methods available to produce β-Mo2C, temperature-programmed reduction yields materials with the highest specific surface areas. The objective of the present work is to perform a detailed investigation of the carburization process and to determine the key intermediate phases that are formed during reduction. To achieve this objective, we performed the carburization process under pulse conditions wherein a small amount of CH4 in each pulse was reacted with a packed bed of MoO2. Our XRD and TEM results demonstrate that the solid-phase transformation from MoO2 to β-Mo2C follows a “plum-pudding” mechanism where Mo metal crystallites are constantly formed as the key intermediate phase throughout the matrix.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to greatly acknowledge the Office of Naval Research (Grant No. N00014-15-1-2416). Also, the authors specially thank the Advanced Facility for Microscopy and Microanalysis (AFMM) at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, for the imaging facility.

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Author notes

  1. Qusay Bkour and Christian Martin Cuba-Torres have contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Gene and Linda Voiland, School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, Washington State University, P.O. Box 646515, Pullman, WA, 99164-6515, USA

    Qusay Bkour, Oscar G. Marin-Flores, M. Grant Norton & Su Ha

  2. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30318, USA

    Christian Martin Cuba-Torres

  3. Materials Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    Shalini Tripathi & N. Ravishankar

  4. School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, P.O. Box 642920, Pullman, WA, 99164-2920, USA

    M. Grant Norton

Authors
  1. Qusay Bkour
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  2. Christian Martin Cuba-Torres
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  3. Oscar G. Marin-Flores
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  4. Shalini Tripathi
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  5. N. Ravishankar
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  6. M. Grant Norton
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  7. Su Ha
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to M. Grant Norton or Su Ha.

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Bkour, Q., Cuba-Torres, C.M., Marin-Flores, O.G. et al. Mechanistic study of the reduction of MoO2 to Mo2C under methane pulse conditions. J Mater Sci 53, 12816–12827 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2549-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2549-0

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