Synthesis of vanadium powder by magnesiothermic reduction of V 2 O 3 in a reactive molten salt

As an important strategic metal, vanadium is generally used to prepare special steels, titanium alloys, and hydrogen storage materials. A new method of producing vanadium (metal) powder from V 2 O 3 using block Mg is presented herein. Using an auxiliary molten salt, V 2 O 3 was successfully transformed into V by Mg reduction. The by-product, MgO, was transformed into MgCl 2 by adding ZrCl 4 , which prevented the generation of MgV 2 O 4 and allowed the reaction to proceed smoothly. The rod-like alloy phases, Zr 0.03 V 1.97 , which formed in the presence of excess Mg, may hinder the diffusion of oxygen from the product. The recovery rate of vanadium after separation and purification was approximately 45%–50%, where the main loss occurred during ball milling. Under the optimal conditions (Mg content of 48.3%, reduction time of 1.5 h, and temperature of 850 °C), the purity of vanadium exceeded 99 wt.%, and the O content decreased to 0.34 wt.%.