Characterization of TiH2 Powders Produced from TiCl4-MgH2 Reactions under Hydrogen Atmosphere

Thermodynamic assessment and experimental investigation on the formation of titanium hydride (TiH2) from the reaction between titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) gas and magnesium hydride (MgH2) powder were carried out under hydrogen atmosphere. In this new method, the production of TiH2 powder at low temperature was investigated, which can be used for further dehydrogenation process to produce low-cost Ti powder. In this work, the effects of temperature, time, amount of titanium trifluoride (TiF3) as a catalyst, and ball-milling time of the MgH2 on the formation of TiH2 were investigated. The phase transformations and evolution of the morphology of the powders with an increase in time and temperature were studied by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The results of the reaction at 400 °C for 10 h indicated that producing TiH2 from the reduction of TiCl4 with MgH2 at low temperature was feasible and has a significant potential for the low-cost synthesis method of TiH2 for Ti powder production.