Structural and growth kinetics of in-situ reduced V2O5

• Transformation kinetics for the formation of VC has been discussed.
• Vanadium carbide is thermally stable at elevated temperatures.
• Vanadium carbide is optically active under ultra-violet light.

Vanadium carbide (VC) nanopowder has been prepared from V2O5 by chemical-reduction route under high pressure of hydrogen and carbon dioxide gases. The reduction of V2O5 to VC has occurred in the presence of magnesium in a closed vessel at 800 °C where acetone is used as a carbon source. Generation of gases via decomposition of acetone is responsible for generating high pressure and hence for reduction. Rietveld refinement shows that the product phase VC is cubic with space group Fm-3m. TEM analysis shows the non-agglomerated VC particles with faceted morphology having an average diameter of 2040 nm. The mechanism of transformation and formation of nanoparticles is discussed in light of the obtained structure. It confirmed that the conversion of V2O5 to VC is a multi step phenomenon and takes place with variation in the experimental parameters. Wide band-gap in UV-Vis spectroscopy indicates that the obtained product is optically active and has the potential for use in optical applications.