Abstract
A new process for the electrolytic production of magnesium from its oxide is described, based on the reaction MgO + NdCl3→MgCl2 + NdOCl. This is followed by electrolysis of the resulting MgCl2/NdCl3/NdOCl melt using a carbon anode, the proposed electrolysis reaction being 2MgCl2+C+ 2NdOCl→2Mg + CO2 + 2NdCl3. XRD studies confirm the formation of NdOCl when MgO is fused with NdCl3. Electrolysis of the melt, using a molten tin cathode and a graphite anode, produced a gas containing chlorine, suggesting some direct electrolysis of chlorides. At 700°C only chlorine was found, but at 750°C and above chlorine and carbon dioxide were evolved, the chlorine:carbon dioxide ratio decreasing markedly as the current density was decreased from 3600 to 890Am−2. This was consistent with the measured cell voltages, which at 750°C and above fell below the calculated decomposition voltage of MgCl2 at current densities of less than 1000 A m−2. There is extensive co-deposition of neodymium with the magnesium with the molten tin cathode, but when magnesium metal was equilibrated with the MgCl2/NdCl3/NdOCl melt only 0.5wt% of neodymium entered the metal.
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