Open AccessSynthesis of high purity rutile nanoparticles from medium-grade Egyptian natural ilmenite
Author(s) -
Mohamed G. Shahien,
Mohamed M.H. Khedr,
Ayman E. Maurice,
Ahmed A. Farghali,
Rabea A.M. Ali
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
beni-seuf university journal of basic and applied sciences /beni-suef university journal of basic and applied sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2314-8543
pISSN - 2314-8535
DOI - 10.1016/j.bjbas.2015.05.013
Subject(s) - ilmenite , calcination , rutile , leaching (pedology) , materials science , hydrochloric acid , raw material , metallurgy , titanium , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , metal , anatase , nuclear chemistry , chemistry , mineralogy , catalysis , photocatalysis , nanotechnology , geology , engineering , biochemistry , organic chemistry , soil science , soil water
The Egyptian magmatic ilmenite is classified as a medium-grade ore. The present work is an attempt to produce a high-quality TiO2 that can be used in several industries from this medium-grade raw material using the mechanical activation, carbothermic reduction, hydrochloric acid leaching and calcination. A mixture from the ilmenite (FeTiO3) and activated carbon was milled for 30 h. This mixture was annealed at 1200 °C for one hour and the product was leached by hydrochloric acid and calcined at 600 °C for two hours. The role of the ball milling was to grind the raw ilmenite to obtain the nano size, and the carbothermic reduction was to reduce all the Fe-Ti phases to a mixture from Fe metal and TiO2. Leaching procedure was carried out to remove all the Fe metal and obtain a high-grade TiO2. After leaching and calcination of the milled and annealed mixture of FeTiO3/C under the optimal conditions, TiO2 nanoparticles with a size of 10–100 nm and purity more than 95% were obtained. The qualifications of the synthesized high purity rutile nanoparticles from the Egyptian natural ilmenite match the conditions of many industrial applications