Effect of CuCl Particle Size on the Reduction Reaction by Silicon in Preparation of Contact Mass Used for Methylchlorosilane Synthesis

Effect of CuCl particle size on the reduction reaction by silicon has been investigated with a purpose of studying the formation of Si-Cu alloy, which can catalyze the direct synthesis of methylchlorosilanes. It has been found that the reaction rate is proportional to the contact area between CuCl and Si, indicating that the reaction is controlled by solid diffusion. After the reduction reaction, the detectable copper-containing species in X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra are less for the finer CuCl particles. This result proves that the Si-Cu active species is highly dispersed. The CuCl catalyst prepared by introduction of different dispersants in the traditional process has been studied experimentally and by means of XRD analysis. Furthermore, it has also been evaluated for the final direct synthesis reaction. The experimental results sketched an affinitive correlativity of the reaction effect of the direct process with the reduction reaction.