Direct Electro-deoxidation of Ilmenite Concentrate to Prepare FeTi Alloy in CaCl2 Molten Salt

In order to prepare FeTi alloy using ilmenite concentrate in molten salt by electrolytic method, the electrochemical deoxidation process was studied by cyclic voltammetry and AC impedance spectroscopy. The electrolytic experiments at different time verified the electrochemical behavior. It is shown that the electro-deoxidation process for ilmenite concentrate mainly consists of two steps. Fe is reduced firstly from the ilmenite concentrate. The second step is the reduction of titanium dioxide with an intermediate product perovskite. At low voltage, the speed of electro-deoxidation process is mainly dependent on the electrochemical reaction. As the potential increases, the diffusion of ion becomes the main rate-controlling step for the electro-deoxidation of ilmenite concentrate.