During the production of molybdenum, the first reduction step of molybdenum trioxide to molybdenum dioxide is crucial in directing important product properties like particle size and oxygen content. In this study, the influence of heating rate, hydrogen flow, and potassium content on the reduction of MoO3 has been investigated via in situ X-ray powder diffraction. For low heating rates, a molybdenum bronze H x MoO3 could be confirmed as an intermediate, while γ-Mo4O11 can only be observed at high heating rates. Molybdenum formation at temperatures as low as 873 K can be controlled via hydrogen flow. The potassium content of reactants has a direct influence on the amount of Mo4O11 formed during the reaction as well as rates of Mo4O11 and MoO2 formation.

Rhenium powder is industrially produced in a two‐step reaction by reducing NH4ReO4 with hydrogen at 623 and 1173 K. In this study, both steps of the production process have been investigated via in situ X‐ray powder diffraction. Up to 550 K no reaction with hydrogen can be observed. Between 550 K and 623 K poorly crystalline rhenium is formed. Crystallinity is increased during the second step at 1173 K. Annealing under hydrogen or nitrogen provides a comparable product in respect to the examined crystal and real structure parameters independent of the gas atmosphere.

In the industrial production of molybdenum the reduction of molybdenum trioxide with hydrogen is a two‐step process. In order to get a deeper understanding of the chemistry involved, in situ studies were performed on the thermal behavior of molybdenum trioxide and the first reduction step to molybdenum dioxide. MoO3 shows a very strong anisotropy for thermal expansion (linear expansion coefficients α in 10−4 K−1: 1.32(4) for a, 5.5(1) for b, −0.246(5) for c). Upon heating in air, preferred orientation in XRPD patterns decreases and the color changes from grey to yellow, probably caused by decreasing oxygen vacancy concentration. The reduction of MoO3 by hydrogen was investigated via in situ X‐ray powder diffraction for varying heating rate, hydrogen flow and potassium content. The formation of the intermediate γ‐Mo4O11 shows a higher rate for increasing potassium content; it does not play a role whether potassium is present in the starting material MoO3 or in MoO2 formed in the reaction. The high‐temperature modification of K2MoO4 was found to crystallize in the α‐K2SO4 type (P63/mmc, a=6.3463(2) Å, c= 8.1331(2) Å). Heating up MoO3 in vacuum (1 Pa) with the same T,t protocol as above yields MoO2 even without the presence of hydrogen.