Preparation of CeNi2 intermetallic compound by direct electroreduction of solid CeO2-2NiO in molten LiCl

Electrochemical reduction of solid CeO2-2NiO to produce CeNi2 was conducted in molten LiCl at 650 °C. The electrochemical reduction behaviors of NiO, CeO2 and their mixture were investigated by cyclic voltammetric measurements. Moreover, a series of electrolysis experiments of different electrolysis cell voltages and electrolysis duration were performed to evaluate the reduction mechanism of the mixed oxides pellet cathode as well as the energy efficiency of the process. Homogeneous CeNi2 was prepared by electrolysis at the constant cell voltage of 3.5 V with a graphite anode. The results demonstrated that the NiO was preferentially reduced to Ni and it subsequently promoted the reduction of CeO2. The electrolysis energy consumption for preparation of the CeNi2 could be as low as 6.5 kWh/kg-CeNi2.