Preparation of molybdenum carbide via microwave induced alloying

Abstract

The concept of "Green Chemistry" was first introduced in 1990. One of the criteria accepted was to perform an energy efficient processes and reactions. Microwave technique was found to be promising method to promote and support "Green Chemistry" since it offers low energy usage and faster reaction time. Based on this idea, this study focused on the preparation of molybdenum carbide using microwave specially modified for this purpose. Commonly, process requires high temperature and pressure conditions thus might lead to inefficient and required high amount of energy. In this study, commercially obtained activated carbon was impregnated with molybdenum solution followed by Microwave Induced Alloying (MIA) method with 2 minutes irradiation time in inert condition of nitrogen atmosphere. Ratios of carbon to molybdenum loading were varied respectively according to their stoichiometric molar ratio. The products obtained were characterized using XRD analysis. As a result, molybdenum carbide was successfully prepared using this method.