Synthesis of titanium nitride in a thermal plasma reactor

摘要

Titanium nitride has been synthesized in a thermal plasma reactor from ilmenite ore concentrate using methane and ammonia as the reactive gases. The product has been characterized by x-ray diffraction and SEM. Results show that a highconcentration of methane favors the formation of iron, titanium nitride and titanium carbonitride. The formation of titanium carbonitride can be minimized by controlling the concentration of methane. The formation of TiN proceeds by the progressivereduction of the oxides of titanium to titanium, which is converted to titanium nitride.