Electrochemical synthesis of Ti–Al–V alloy by chlorination of Ti2O3 and V2O3 in AlCl3-containing molten chloride salt

Abstract The current study proposes a novel method of preparing Ti–Al–V alloy by electrochemical co-deposition by adding Ti2O3 and V2O3 into the molten salt system. The influence of chlorination of Ti2O3 and V2O3 in KCl–LiCl–MgCl2–AlCl3 melt was studied by inductively-coupled plasma emission spectrometer (ICP-AES) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The results revealed that the optimal chlorination temperature ranged from 600 °C to 700 °C and the main chlorination products were TiCl3, VCl3, and Al2O3 byproduct. The electrochemical behavior of Ti3+, V3+ and Al3+ in a molten AlCl3-containing chloride salt was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The stepwise reduction in the cathode could be given as: V3+→V2+, Ti3+→Ti2+, V2+→V, Ti2+→Ti, Ti2+/V2+/Al3+→Ti–Al–V alloy. The electrolytic products were also characterized by XRD and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results demonstrated that, as metallic Al was used as an anode, a dendritic Al3Ti alloy and Al sheet were obtained after the addition of Ti2O3 into the KCl–LiCl–MgCl2–AlCl3 melt. However, the presence of both Ti2O3 and V2O3 resulted in fishbone-like Al3Ti, Al3Ti0.8V0.2 and Al3Ti0.666V0.333 alloys, as well as dense granules of metallic Al.