Environmentally Safe Technology for Synthesizing Titanium Trichloride for the Needs of Various Industries

Abstract

The authors have assessed the possibility of electrochemical synthesis of a wide range of reagents based on titanium trichloride as part of the work. Despite the growing demand for titanium trichloride and its derivatives, the production technology of this reagent has not been improved for a long period. Traditional technologies feature high environmental and industrial hazards, and the process itself has high energy consumption and a complex hardware scheme. As part of preliminary work, the possibility of obtaining titanium trichloride from aqueous solutions of titanium tetrachloride is established, while the proposed technology is distinguished by reduced energy consumption and safety. At the first stage of experiments in the anodic dissolution of aluminum, binary solutions of titanium trichloride and aluminum chloride are obtained. The degree of conversion TiCl4 → -TiCl3 is 65%–35% for a current density of 10–30 A/dm2, respectively. In the process of reducing an aqueous solution of titanium tetrachloride with iron electrodes, the yield of titanium trichloride is approximately 76%–66% for a current density of 10–30 A/dm2, respectively. The resulting solution is heavily contaminated with iron (II) compounds. The results of the experiments show the high efficiency of this solution in the processes of purification of wastewater from galvanic production from chromium (VI) compounds. For the production of high-purity titanium trichloride, titanium electrodes are used, while the yield of titanium trichloride is 59%–3% for a current density of 10–30 A/dm2, respectively. Depending on the production technology and electrode material, solutions are obtained that can be used to produce high-purity titanium dioxide for the production of dye-sensitized solar cells, reagents for water purification, and a Ziegler-Natta catalyst and a reagent for organic synthesis.