Abstract
Electrorefining process has been widely used to separate and purify metals, but it is limited by deposition potential of the metal itself. Here we report in-situ anodic precipitation (IAP), a modified electrorefining process, to purify aluminium from contaminants that are more reactive. During IAP, the target metals that are more cathodic than aluminium are oxidized at the anode and forced to precipitate out in a low oxidation state. This strategy is fundamentally based on different solubilities of target metal chlorides in the NaAlCl4 molten salt rather than deposition potential of metals. The results suggest that IAP is able to efficiently and simply separate components of aluminum alloys with fast kinetics and high recovery yields, and it is also a valuable synthetic approach for metal chlorides in low oxidation states.
Highlights
Electrorefining process has been widely used to separate and purify metals, but it is limited by deposition potential of the metal itself
In addition to demonstrating in-situ anodic precipitation (IAP) as effective for separation of Al alloys, the results reveal it as a different approach to prepare metal chlorides in low oxidation states
Discussion the IAP process has been demonstrated in NaAlCl4 molten salt electrolyte, using several metals and their alloys with Al
Summary
Electrorefining process has been widely used to separate and purify metals, but it is limited by deposition potential of the metal itself. During IAP, the target metals that are more cathodic than aluminium are oxidized at the anode and forced to precipitate out in a low oxidation state This strategy is fundamentally based on different solubilities of target metal chlorides in the NaAlCl4 molten salt rather than deposition potential of metals. In IAP, the target metals can be precipitated at the anode immediately after oxidation, by combining with chloride in the NaAlCl4 molten salt electrolyte, in contrast to typical electrochemical approaches in which soluble ions or gases like O2, Cl2, or CO2 are generated at the anode. In addition to demonstrating IAP as effective for separation of Al alloys, the results reveal it as a different approach to prepare metal chlorides in low oxidation states
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