The FFC Cambridge Process is an electrochemical method in which solid metal compounds, particularly oxides, are cathodically reduced to the respective metals or alloys in molten salts. Electrochemistry is the study of the electronic and electrical aspects of chemical reactions. ... An oxide is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom and other elements. ... An alloy is a homogeneous hybrid of two or more elements, at least one of which is a metal, and where the resulting material has metallic properties. ...

History and invention

The method was invented by three scientists, George Z. Chen, Derek J. Fray and Tom W. Farthing, between 1996 and 1997 in the University of Cambridge, from the names of whom derive the three letters in the name of the process. Chen was the first to discover in late 1996 that oxide scales on titanium foils can be reduced to the metal by molten salt electrochemistry. After seeing the evidence with thick oxide scales, Fray suggested an experiment to reduce small pellets of titanium dioxide powder, which Chen carried out successfully between late 1996 and early 1997. Farthing, who first suggested to electrochemically remove oxygen from titanium metal, later commented on the discovery as "completely out of expectation". The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. ... Flash point non-flammable Related Compounds Other cations Titanium(II) oxide Titanium(III) oxide Titanium(III,IV) oxide Zirconium dioxide Hafnium dioxide Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 Â°C, 100 kPa) Infobox disclaimer and references Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium...

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Chemistry of the process

The basic underlying principle of the FFC Cambridge process is that metallic calcium - unlike sodium or magnesium - is quite soluble in its own molten chloride salt: molten calcium chloride dissolves up to a few mole percent calcium metal (3.9 mol% Ca at 900 °C). In the molten calcium chloride, molten calcium metal is free to wander about in the melt, including diffusing into and reducing crystalline titanium dioxide and other metal oxides. For other uses, see Calcium (disambiguation). ... For sodium in the diet, see Salt. ... General Name, symbol, number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, period, block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white solid at room temp Standard atomic weight 24. ... R-phrases S-phrases , , Related Compounds Other anions calcium fluoride calcium bromide calcium iodide Other cations magnesium chloride strontium chloride Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ... Flash point non-flammable Related Compounds Other cations Titanium(II) oxide Titanium(III) oxide Titanium(III,IV) oxide Zirconium dioxide Hafnium dioxide Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 Â°C, 100 kPa) Infobox disclaimer and references Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium...

The calcium mobility in the melt is both a blessing and a curse: it's a blessing for providing this calciothermic reduction of titanium dioxide, but a curse when it comes to current efficiency, because the cathode-reduced metallic calcium can also wander back to the anode, and get reoxidized with the evolved gases there. For this reason, the electrolytic production of pure calcium metal from its molten chloride involves an iron rod cathode that must be gradually raised, and a layer of calcium metal deposits as a continuation of the iron rod. Should the calcium rod be left to soak in the molten salt, it would simply wash away as it forms, and recycle to the anode. For this and other economic reasons, the commercial calcium metal production is done via the aluminothermic reduction/calcium vapor vacuum distillation route instead of an electrolytic one, similar to how magnesium is produced via the silicothermic Pidgeon process. Still, considering that the highly uneconomical batch-based Kroll process can take 2-5 days for a single batch to complete, the coulombic current efficiency losses in the FFC Cambridge process might be quite tolerable. Ion recycling between cathode and anode can be helped by using suitable electrolyte separating diaphragms. Calciothermic reactions are thermic chemical reactions which use calcium metal as the reducing agent at high temperature. ... Aluminothermic reactions are exothermic chemical reactions using aluminium as the reducing agent at high temperature. ... Silicothermic reactions are thermic chemical reactions using silicon as the reducing agent at high temperature (800-1400°C). ... // Overview The Pidgeon process is one of the methods of magnesium metal production, via a silicothermic reduction, practical production requiring roughly 35-40 MWh/ton of metal produced, which is on par with the molten salt electrolytic methods of production, though above the 7 MWh/ton theoretical minimum. ... The Kroll process is a pyrometallurgical industrial process used to produce metallic titanium. ... The coulomb (symbol: C) is the SI unit of electric charge. ...

The FFC process is much simpler in operation and uses less energy than many current industrial technologies, such as the Kroll process, and promises a great potential for cheap production of useful reactive metals such as titanium, zirconium and tantalum. Its other advantage is to produce various metal alloys directly from mixed metal oxide powders, which will offer more savings in energy and operation cost. It is also scientifically interesting because the electrolysis can be carried out on an insulator oxide, such as zirconia and silica. The process can extract pure oxygen gas from oxide based minerals. This is useful, for example, for generating oxygen gas on the Moon from lunar rocks (ilmenite, FeTiO₃) to support space travel and celestial habitation. General Name, symbol, number titanium, Ti, 22 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 4, 4, d Appearance silvery metallic Standard atomic weight 47. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zirconium, Zr, 40 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 4, 5, d Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 91. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tantalum, Ta, 73 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 5, 6, d Appearance gray blue Standard atomic weight 180. ... Zirconia (ZrO2) is a white crystalline oxide of zirconium. ... The chemical compound silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is the oxide of silicon, chemical formula SiO2. ... Ilmenite is a weakly magnetic iron-black or steel-gray mineral found in metamorphic and igneous rocks. ...

References

• G. Z. Chen, D. J. Fray, T. W. Farthing (2000). "Direct Electrochemical Reduction of Titanium Dioxide to Titanium in Molten Calcium Chloride". Nature 407: 361-4. doi:10.1038/35030069. 
• Ryosuke O. Suzuki (2005). "Calciothermic reduction of TiO₂ and in situ electrolysis of CaO in the molten CaCl₂". Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids 66: 461-465. 
• Il Park, Takashi Abiko and Toru H. Okabe (2005). "Production of titanium powder directly from TiO₂ in CaCl₂ through an electronically mediated reaction (EMR)". Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids 66: 410-413. 
• A molten calcium chloride electrolysis reference
• An aluminothermic calcium production reference

Nature is a prominent scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

External links

• Metalysis Ltd
• www.nottingham.ac.uk
• Materials Chemistry Group at Cambridge University