Vanadium carbide, VC, is an extremely hard refractory ceramic material (9-9.5 Mohs, possibly the hardest metal-carbide known). It is commercially used in tool bits cutting tools. It has the appearance of gray metallic powder with cubic crystal structure.
Vanadium carbide is chemically stable and has excellent high-temperature property. It can be used as an additive to tungsten carbide to fine the carbide crystals to improve the property of the cermet. Vanadium carbide can be formed in the (111) orientation, when formed by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Although vanadium carbide is a very thermodynamically stable ceramic, V2C is energy favorable to exist at temperatures above 900°C.