The use of electro-deoxidation to reduce titanium dioxide and other metal oxides

Fray, Derek J.; Chen, George Z.

Abstract

Titanium is usually extracted by the Kroll process in which titanium tetrachloride is reduced by magnesium to form titanium sponge and magnesium chloride. This is an expensive and time consuming process which makes titanium a very expensive metal. Although titanium and its alloys have excellent properties, high strength, low density and very good corrosion resistance, its use is restricted by its high cost. Electro-deoxidation is a very simple technique where the oxide to be reduced is made cathodic in a fused salt of an alkaline earth chloride. By applying a voltage, below the decomposition potential of the salt, it has been found that the cathodic reaction is the ionization of oxygen from the oxide to leave a pure metal, rather than the reduction of the ion alkaline earth ion element. In the laboratory, this technique has been applied to a large number of metal oxides, including titanium dioxide. Another interesting observation is that when a mixture of oxides is used as the cathode, the metals form an alloy of uniform composition. This could be a considerable advantage for those alloys that are difficult to prepare using conventional technology.

Citation

Fray, D. J., & Chen, G. Z. (2001, October). The use of electro-deoxidation to reduce titanium dioxide and other metal oxides. Paper presented at Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Materials Engineering for Resources

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Materials Engineering for Resources
• Start Date: Oct 11, 2001
• End Date: Oct 13, 2001
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2001
• Deposit Date: May 25, 2020
• Volume: 1
• Pages: 1-6
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3214612