The influence of dielectric media on nano-structured tungsten carbide (WC) powder synthesized by electro-discharge process

•More powder was produced in the negative pole mode.•WC1−x and W2C are the main phases produced in kerosene and deionized water, respectively.•WC and W–WC are the main phases produced in kerosene and deionized water after carburization process, respectively.

In this investigation, nano-structured tungsten carbide (WC) powder has been synthesized using electro discharge process with tungsten and graphite electrodes submerged in two different dielectrics (kerosene and deionized water). The effect of input parameters (current and pulse duration) in the electro discharge process on the amount of powder production, structure, phases, morphological properties, and size distribution of particles were studied. The obtained results illustrated that, in the majority of setup settings, the amount of nano-structured powder in the kerosene was noticed to be approximately four times greater than the amount of powder produced in deionized water dielectric. Furthermore, it was observed that the particle size in kerosene dielectric (10–30 nm) was smaller than the particle size in deionized water (30–80 nm). According to XRD patterns, WC1−x phase in kerosene and W2C phase in deionized water were the main phases of synthesized powder. After producing WC1−x and W2C, both powders were put into the carburization operation under the Nitrogen gas to produce WC phase.

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