Preparation of Nb₃Al powder by chemical reaction in molten salts

Nb₃Al nanoparticles were directly synthesized by metallothermic reduction process in the molten salts with mNbCl₅–nAlCl₃ powders as raw materials and sodium as reducing reagent. The effects of different feeding material orders, soaking time, Nb content in raw materials, and 3NbCl₅–AlCl₃ content in molten salts on the obtained Nb₃Al powder were discussed. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is found that the only phase Nb₃Al nanoparticles are obtained by controlling the variation of the feeding material orders, soaking time, and Nb content in raw materials. And the morphologies of as-prepared nanoparticles change owning to different 3NbCl₅–AlCl₃ contents in molten salts.