Hydrogen reduction method is one of the important methods for the preparation of metal powders. This method is characterized by the direct use of hydrogen for the reduction of dispersed metal halides, oxides and sulfides. This method not only has the advantage of simple preparation process and convenience, but also avoids the complicated separation process of chemical reduction agent and product, and the problem of environmental pollution caused by the volatilization of large amount of acid in traditional reduction method.
In a hydrogen reduction process, hydrogen gas serves as a reducing agent to reduce metal oxides, sulfides or halides. During the reduction process, the hydrogen gas penetrates into powder particles and produces a complex chemical reaction with metal ions, which further participates in the formation of metal powder. In the process of hydrogen reduction, the respective chemical reaction pathway can be divided into bulk reduction and surface reduction.
The bulk reduction process is a process in which hydrogen penetrates into the particles and is adsorbed by the metal ions, and then reacts with the metal ions. At this time, electrons are transferred from the active metal site to hydrogen atoms to form metal atoms, and hydrogen atoms become protons. In this process, heat transfer, hot charge effect, cross flow effect and chemical reaction are carried out in a very short time. The generated hot charge can diffuse inside the particles and generate a porous structure of intermediate alloy.
The surface reduction process is generally used in the occasion where the particles are already in a nanoscale level and the diffusion rate of hydrogen molecules is too slow to reach the long time of metal oxides. Hydrogen molecules are adsorbed on the surface of metal oxides, and then hydrogen molecules will spontaneously produce unbalanced electrons by forming metal hydride structures near oxygen vacancies, thus forming particles with metal elements as the main components.
The hydrogen reduction method is also used as one of the main paths for the preparation of nanometer-sized metal powder. This method is based on the synthesis of new phases on the surface of pre-prepared metal oxides. And the nano-particles generated in the hydrogen reduction method are mainly composed of metal elements, not like hydrolysis and thermal decomposition methods, which tend to generate more hydrated particles. In addition, this method has the characteristics of low cost and simple operation, so the hydrogen reduction method has been widely used in the preparation of nanometer-sized metal powder.
The hydrogen reduction method not only has the advantage of simple operation, but also has the high dispersion of products and uniform particle size. The reasons may be related to the characteristics of hydrogen as a reducing agent and its high reactivity with metal oxides and metal halides. In addition, when hydrogen is used as a reducing agent, the large amount of acid generated in the traditional chemical reduction method is avoided, and the environmental pollution caused by the volatilization is also avoided, which is the main reason why the hydrogen reduction method is widely used.
Generally speaking, the hydrogen reduction method can produce nano-metal powders with high purity and uniform particle size in a simple and convenient way. The hydrogen reduction method has been widely used in the preparation of nano-metal powders, such as aluminum powder, copper powder and nickel powder, and has obtained impressive results. However, the disadvantage of this method is that it is difficult to control when hydrogen is used as a reducing agent, and the properties of metal powder obtained by this method are also affected by many factors, such as the pressure of hydrogen, the structure of hydrogen reduction furnace and the particle size of metal oxide precursor.