Preparation of Tantalum Powder from Ta2O5 by an Electrochemical Reduction in an LiCl-Li2O Molten Salt System

Characteristics of an electrochemical reduction of Ta2O5 for the preparation of metallic tantalum in a LiCl–Li2O molten salt

“…A metastable phase ␤-Ta which is a tetragonal structure is known to be thermally unstable and it is also known to transform to a body centered cubic (bcc) phase at temperatures above 750 • C [14]. In this work, bcc phases as well as a tetragonal structure are observed in some cases although the reaction temperature is much less than 750 • C, which may be caused by the heat of the reaction at a local point [6]. Table 3 summarizes the analytical results of the metallic tantalum powder prepared in this study.…”

“…However, the particle size of the metallic tantalum prepared above 1.0 A is similar to that of the fresh Ta 2 O 5 . This result indicates that the reaction rate on the cathode electrode affects the particle size of the metallic powder produced by an electrochemical reduction [6]. Baba et al [10] reported that the particle size of tantalum powder prepared by a chemical reaction above 1100 K is larger than the fresh oxide, which is due to a sintering of the formed metallic particle.…”

“…Recently, an electrochemical reduction process has been focused on to prepare a pure metallic particle [2][3][4][5][6]. Various molten salt systems have been used for a metallization of the metal oxide by an electrochemical reduction.…”

“…Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has investigated the electrochemical reduction of metal oxides to prepare metallic particles in a LiCl-Li 2 O molten salt [5][6][7][8][9]. The novel concept of the electrochemical reduction process of KAERI is to reduce the metal oxides to their metallic forms by combining an electrode reaction and a chemical reaction.…”

“…This electrochemical reduction helps to produce metals with a high purity and a high yield. Also, this technology can be operated at a relatively mild temperature when compared to the SHS method and a calciothermic reduction [6].…”