Electrochemical dissolution behavior of conductive TiCxO1–x solid solutions

Abstract

Conductive TiCxO1–x solid solutions were prepared by carbothermic reduction of titanium dioxide. Studies were focused on the possibility of electrochemically dissolving TiCxO1–x in NaCl–KCl molten salt. The tail-gas from the anode was monitored during the electrolysis. It was discovered that carbon monoxide (CO) or carbon dioxide (CO2) gases were generated, with the process being dependent upon the consumption of the TiCxO1–x solid solution anode materials. Furthermore, a series of electrochemical methods was used to investigate the valence state of titanium ions dissolved into molten salt when electrolyzing TiCxO1–x solid solutions. A significant result was that titanium ion species dissolved from the TiCxO1–x solid solutions, and this is changed between Ti2+ and Ti3+ depending on the electrochemically dissolving potentials. The significant result discovered in this paper will be potentially beneficial in the preparation of high-purity titanium by electrorefining TiCxO1–x solid solutions.