Effect of cerium oxide on the structure of silicate melt and aluminate melt

Abstract The effect of Ce2O3 on the structure of silicate melt and aluminate melt was investigated. Ce2O3 played an opposite role in the two different systems. With the increase of Ce2O3 mole fraction in the silicate slag, the total proportion of QSi3 and QSi2 structural units with a high degree of polymerization will increase, and the complexity of the network will increase. With the increase of the Ce2O3 mole fraction in the aluminate slag, the relative proportion of [AlO4]-tetrahedron that acts as a network former was decreased and then stabilized. The relative proportion of the network modifier [AlO6]-octahedron was increased and then gradually approached a stable distribution. The degree of polymerization of the slag decreased first and then become stable. The new CaO-Al2O3-based mold flux has good stability in its viscosity after absorbing Ce2O3, it will be in favor of solving the mismatch of mold flux for rare earth steel continuous casting.