On nonaqueous electrochemical behavior of titanium and Ti compounds

In this study, we examined the electrochemical behavior of titanium and Ti⁴⁺ compounds in THF solutions. Tetra butyl ammonium chloride (TBACl) was used as supporting electrolyte in order to increase the ionic conductivity of the solutions. Electrodeposition of pure titanium could not be obtained. A variety of analytical techniques have been used in conjunction with electrochemical methods in order to analyze the reduction process of Ti⁴⁺. These included Raman and UV-vis spectroscopy, ICP and CHNS elemental analyses. Ti⁴⁺ is being reduced to Ti³⁺ in TiCl₄/THF/TBACl solutions.In addition we show that metallic titanium can be electrochemically dissolved from an organo-metallic electrolyte solution comprising EtAlCl₂ and LiCl in THF. The product is Ti⁴⁺. While LiCl is insoluble in THF it reacts with EtAlCl₂ to form ionic species. Hence, these solutions possessed reasonable ionic conductivity.We could not obtain electroactive Ti⁴⁺ with TiBr₄ or TiI₄ as starting materials, in similar solutions.