Electrochemical Preparation of Ti₂CrV Alloy in CaCl₂ Melt

Ti 2 CrV alloy shows good hydrogen storage characteristics at room temperature and ambient pressure. The present study investigated the feasibility of direct electrochemical reduction of TiO 2 -Cr 2 O 3 -V 3 O 5 to Ti 2 CrV in CaCl 2 melt at 900 °C by the FFC Cambridge process. The electrolysis was conducted in a two-electrode assembly with the sintered mixed oxide cathode and HD graphite anode at a constant cell voltage of 3.1 V for different time intervals to elucidate the reduction mechanism of the metal oxide mixture. The obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques. Cyclic voltammetry studies using metallic cavity electrode containing mixed metal oxide powder were also carried out to determine the electrochemical reduction behavior in CaCl 2 melt at 900 °C. It was observed that the presence of pre-formed Cr and V metal in the vicinity of titanium oxide helped in its faster reduction. The complete metallization of the sintered mixed oxide pellet occurred after 15 h of electrolysis. The electrochemical reduction mechanism was observed to proceed through various intermediates such as chromium-rich Cr-V, vanadium-rich V-Cr, CaTiO 3 , TiO, Ti 6 O, Ti-V, and C15-TiCr 2 .