Direct electrochemical reduction of titanium dioxide in molten lithium chloride

The electrochemical reduction of TiO2 has been carried out in a molten LiCl salt at 650 °C. The direct reduction mechanism of TiO2 in the molten LiCl was suggested by the CV experiment and the constant voltage electrolysis. TiO2 was electrochemically converted to the metallic titanium via various reaction intermediates such as LiTiO2, TiO, and Ti2O. The interrupted voltage electrolysis was demonstrated to be effective for the direct electrochemical reduction of TiO2 to achieve a high current efficiency. The surface morphology of the produced metal was investigated by SEM and TEM.