Evaluation of cerium oxide coated Cu cermets as inert anodes for aluminum electrowinning. Final report, August 1990--March 1992

摘要

Cu/NiFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} cermets were evaluated, with and without an in-situ deposited CEROX (TM; cerium oxide) coating, in 100 h laboratory A1 electrowinning tests. Bath ratio and current density were varied between tests and corrosion was determined by contamination of the aluminum and cryolite by cermet components (Cu, Fe, and Ni). Higher bath ratios of 1.5 to 1.6 led to less corrosion and thicker CEROX coatings. Lower current densities led to slightly less corrosion but much less oxidation of the Cu cermet substrate. At identical test conditions, the corrosion of the CEROX coated cermets was 1/7 that of an uncoated cermet. Corrosion was increased in CEROX coated cermets tested under unsaturated alumina conditions. The electrical conductivity of the CEROX coating was measured to be {approximately}0.2 ohm{sup {minus}1}cm{sup {minus}1}, resulting in a slight voltage penalty, depending on the thickness of the coating.