Our previous studies on the electrowinning of iron from hematite particles suspended in sodium hydroxide solutions demonstrated that iron was produced through a direct solid phase electrochemical reduction of the oxide particles. This suggests that the electro-deoxidation of a hematite powder pellet by the FFC type process should be possible in aqueous solutions at a low temperature. We investigated the electrochemical reduction of a solid hematite pellet cathode manufactured by conventional mechanical pressing followed by sintering process in concentrated sodium hydroxide solutions using a nickel inert anode at 110 °C. The experimental results indicated that hematite was reduced to iron metal. Propagation of the reduction reaction front through the oxide phase occurred at a high speed, and the rate-determining step was the diffusion of the oxygen ion through the shrinking eores of the oxide particle.
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