resumo
The alkaline electrolytic production of iron is gaining interest due to the absence of CO2 emissions and significantly lower electrical energy consumption when compared with traditional steelmaking. The possibility of using an iron-bearing pseudobrookite mineral, Fe2TiO5, is explored for the first time as an alternative feedstock for the electrochemical reduction process. To assess relevant impacts of the presence of titanium, similar electroreduction processes were also performed for Fe2TiO5 center dot Fe2O3 and Fe2O3. The electroreduction was attempted using dense and porous ceramic cathodes. Potentiostatic studies at the cathodic potentials of -1.15--1.30 V vs. an Hg|HgO|NaOH reference electrode and a galvanostatic approach at 1 A/cm(2) were used together with electroreduction from ceramic suspensions, obtained by grinding the porous ceramics. The complete electroreduction to Fe-0 was only possible at high cathodic polarizations (-1.30 V), compromising the current efficiencies of the electrochemical process due to the hydrogen evolution reaction impact. Microstructural evolution and phase composition studies are discussed, providing trends on the role of titanium and corresponding electrochemical mechanisms. Although the obtained results suggest that pseudobrookite is not a feasible material to be used alone as feedstock for the electrolytic iron production, it can be considered with other iron oxide materials and/or ores to promote electroreduction.
palavras-chave
HEMATITE PARTICLES; METAL PRODUCTION; ELECTROREDUCTION; REDUCTION; DECOMPOSITION; PERFORMANCE; ADSORPTION; CERAMICS; PIGMENTS; STEEL
categoria
Chemistry; Materials Science; Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering; Physics
autores
Lopes, DV; Lisenkov, AD; Ruivo, LCM; Yaremchenko, AA; Frade, JR; Kovalevsky, AV
nossos autores
Aleksey Lisenkov
Investigador Júnior
Aleksey Yaremchenko
Investigador Principal
Andrei Kavaleuski
Investigador principal
Daniela Vanessa Rosendo Lopes
Investigador Júnior
Jorge Ribeiro Frade
Professor(a) Jubilado(a)
Luís Carlos Marques Ruivo
Estudante de doutoramentoagradecimentos
This research was funded by the European Commission by the financial support of the project SIDERWIN-DLV-768788-Horizon 2020/SPIRE10.