Electro-deoxidation of V2O3 in molten CaCl2-NaCl-CaO

The electro-deoxidation of V2O3 precursors was studied.Experiments were carried out with a two-terminal electrochemical cell,which was comprised of a molten electrolyte of CaCl2 and NaCl with additions of CaO,a cathode of compact V2O3,and a graphite anode under the potential of 3.0 V at 1173 K.The phase constitution and composition as well as the morphology of the samples were studied by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).3 g of V2O3 could be converted to vanadium metal powder within the processing time of 8 h.The kinetic pathway was investigated by analyzing the product phase in samples prepared at different reduction stages.CaO added in the reduction path of V2O3 formed the intermediate product CaV2O4.