Direct electrochemical extraction of Ti5Si3 from Ti/Si-containing metal oxide compounds in molten CaCl2

Direct electrochemical extraction of Ti₅Si₃ from pressed cathode pellets comprising of powdered Ti/Sicontaining metal oxide compounds was investigated by using molten salt electro-deoxidation technology.Three groups of mixtures including TiO₂ mixed with SiO₂,Ti-bearing blast furnace slag（TBFS） mixed with TiO₂, and TBFS mixed with high-titanium slag（HTS） were prepared at the same stoichiometric ratio（Ti:Si=5:3） corresponding to the target composition of Ti₅Si₃,and used as the starting materials in this experiment,respectively. The pressed porous cylindrical pellet of the Ti/Si-containing compounds served as a cathode,and two different anode systems,i.e.,the inert solid oxide oxygen-ion-conducting membrane（SOM） based anode system and graphite-based anode system were used contrastively.The electrochemical experiment was carried out at 900-1050℃and 3.0-4.0 V in molten CaCl₂ electrolyte.The results show that the oxide components were electro-deoxidized effectively and Ti₅Si₃ could be directly extracted from these complex Ti/Si-containing metal oxide compounds.