Abstract | Titanium foam, prepared by using a patented powder-metallurgy–based process involving a powder blend that was molded, foamed, and sintered using a three-step thermal treatment, was deoxidized in a molten CaCl₂ bath. The polarization experiments were carried out by cathodically polarizing the foam (working electrode) against a counter (graphite) electrode. Under constant potential (polarization) mode, the dominant mechanism of deoxidation was the ionization of oxygen, present in the foam, and its subsequent discharge, as CO₂/CO, at the anode surface. More than ~85 pct oxygen could be effectively removed by carrying out the electrodeoxidation experiments in fresh and pre-electrolyzed melt(s) at an electrolyte temperature of 950 °C. Scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) detection of the deoxidized foams did not show a presence of any inclusion(s) or secondary phase(s). |
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