The Mechanism of Joint Reduction of MoO3 and CuO by Combined Mg/C Reducer at High Heating Rates

Understanding of the decisive role of non-isothermal treatment on the interaction mechanism and kinetics of the MoO3-CuO-Mg-C system is highly relevant for the elaboration of optimal conditions at obtaining Mo-Cu composite powder in the combustion processes. The reduction pathway of copper and molybdenum oxides with combined Mg + C reducing agents at high heating rates from 100 to 5200 K min−1 was delivered. In particular the sequence of the reactions in all the studied binary, ternary and quaternary systems contemporaneously demonstrating the effect of the heating rate on products’ phase composition and microstructure was elucidated. The combination of two highly exothermic and speedy reactions (MoO3 + 3Mg and CuO + Mg vs. MoO3 + CuO + 4Mg) led to a slow interaction with weak self-heating (dysynergistic effect) due to a change in the reaction mechanism. Furthermore, it has been shown that upon the simultaneous utilization of the Mg and C reducing agents, the process initiates exclusively with carbothermic reduction, and at relatively high temperatures it continues with magnesiothermic reaction. The effective activation energy values of the magnesiothermic stages of the studied reactions were determined by Kissinger isoconversional method.