Production of titanium carbide from ilmenite

Abstract

The production of titanium carbide (TiC) powders from ilmenite ore (FeTiO3) powder by means of carbothermal reduction synthesis coupled with hydrochloric acid (HCl) leaching process was investigated. A mixture of FeTiO3 and carbon powders was reacted at 1500oC for 1 hr under flowing argon gas. Subsequently, synthesized product of Fe-TiC powders were leached by 10% HCl solutions for 24 hrs to get final product of TiC powders. The powders were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. The product particles were agglomerated in the stage after the leaching process, and the size of this agglomerate was 12.8 μm with a crystallite size of 28.8 nm..

Keywords

• titanium carbide
• ilmenite
• carbothermal reduction synthesis
• leaching
• Gibbs energy