In recent years, the development of methods for the synthesis of Mo2C for catalytic application has become especially important. In this work a series of Mo2C samples was synthesized by thermal decomposition of molybdenum blue xerogels obtained using ascorbic acid. The influence of the molar ratio reducing agent/Mo [R]/[Mo] on morphology, phase composition and characteristics of the porous structure of Mo2C has been established. The developed synthesis method allows the synthesis to be carried out in an inert atmosphere and does not require a carburization step. The resulting molybdenum carbide has a mesoporous structure with a narrow pore size distribution and a predominant pore size of 4 nm.
Keywords: molybdenum blue; molybdenum carbide; molybdenum oxide nanocluster; sol-gel method; thermal decomposition.