Electrolytic synthesis of TiC/SiC nanocomposites from high titanium slag in molten salt

The molten salt electrolytic method for the preparation of titanium carbide and silicon carbide composites has been subjected to a systematic investigation by experimental analyses and thermodynamic calculations. It has been confirmed that the electrolysis of high titanium slag in the presence of mixed graphite powders generates intermediates CaTiO3, Ti2O3, TiO, Fe3Si and objective carbonous products TiC/SiC. It has been furthermore found that the deoxidization process depends critically on a number of process parameters, namely, electrolyte composition, graphitic regime, reaction temperature, cell voltage and reaction time. After careful optimization of these parameters, TiC/SiC nanocomposites with particle sizes of 10-174 nm has been produced by electrolysis of high titanium slag and graphite mixtures in molar ratio of 1:2 referred to Ti:C under 3.2 V at 900 °C for 6 h in 1 mol%CaO-CaCl2-NaCl molten salt and with particle sizes of 12 nm~207 nm in 1 mol%CaO-CaCl2 electrolyte.