Vanadium carbide is the

inorganic compound In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...

with the formula V C. It is an extremely

hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

refractory In materials science, a refractory material or refractory is a material that is resistant to decomposition by heat, pressure, or chemical attack, and retains strength and form at high temperatures. Refractories are polycrystalline, polyphase, ...

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

material. With a hardness of 9-9.5 Mohs, it is possibly the hardest metal-

carbide In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece. Interstitial / Metallic carbides The carbides of the ...

known. It is of interest because it is prevalent in vanadium metal and alloys.Günter Bauer, Volker Güther, Hans Hess, Andreas Otto, Oskar Roidl, Heinz Roller, Siegfried Sattelberger "Vanadium and Vanadium Compounds" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2005, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.

Structure and preparation

Being isomorphous with vanadium monoxide, it crystallizes in the rock salt structure. Because VC and VO are

miscible Miscibility () is the property of two substances to mix in all proportions (that is, to fully dissolve in each other at any concentration), forming a homogeneous mixture (a solution). The term is most often applied to liquids but also applies ...

, samples of VC typically contain an impurity of the oxide. It is produced by heating vanadium oxides with carbon at around 1000 °C. Vanadium carbide can be formed in the (111) orientation, when formed by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Although VC is thermodynamically stable, it converts to V₂C at higher temperatures. Vanadium carbide is used as an additive to

cemented carbide Cemented carbides are a class of hard materials used extensively for cutting tools, as well as in other industrial applications. It consists of fine particles of carbide cemented into a composite by a binder metal. Cemented carbides commonly use ...

, to refine the carbide crystals and thereby get an increased hardness of the inserts.

Physical properties

Vanadium Carbide has an elastic modulus of approximately 380 GPa.

References

Carbides Vanadium(IV) compounds Superhard materials Refractory materials Rock salt crystal structure {{inorganic-compound-stub