Investigation of the Carbothermal Reduction of Ti2O3 in Argon and Nitrogen Atmospheres

The experiments described in this paper were performed in order to clarify the behaviour of Ti2O3 in the carbothermal reduction process in argon and nitrogen atmospheres. Series of experiments were carried out for a Ti2O3-furnace black and a Ti2O3-graphite mixture in argon and nitrogen atmospheres. Additional experiments were performed with the pure Ti2O3 powder at 1300°C in different atmospheres. The results obtained in this work showed that Ti2O3 is an instable phase in nitrogen and that even the nitrogen impurities in technical CO are sufficient for its decomposition.