Investigations into the electrodeposition of titanium metal from titanium tetrachloride in fused alkali metal chloride systems

An account is presented of work carried out on the single-stage, electrolytic reduction of TiCl4 to titanium metal. Emphasis is placed on metal quality as determined by hardness values, and the effects of a number of experimental variables have been studied both on hardness and on current efficiency and yield. In several cases, a minimum hardness level of 300–350 D.P.N. on melted metal was achieved, and it was shown to be possible to prepare titanium metal of this quality at high current efficiency and yield. The use of porous diaphragms in the cell, whilst necessary for high efficiencies, resulted in an irregular contamination of the metal throughout any one experiment, although not affecting the minimum hardness obtained. The deposited metal was, in all cases, of small particle size and generally dendritic in structure.