A hydrometallurgical process for the selective removal of silicon from titanium-vanadium slag by alkaline leaching was investigated. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and electron dispersive spectroscopy were used to characterize the samples. The results show that anosovite, pyroxene and metallic iron are the major components of the titanium-vanadium slag. Anosovite is presented in granular and plate shapes, and pyroxene is distributed in the anosovite crystals. Metallic iron is spheroidal and wrapped in anosovite. Silicon is mainly in the pyroxene, and titanium and vanadium are mainly in the anosovite. The effects of agitation speed, leaching temperature, leaching time, sodium hydroxide concentration and liquid-solid (L/S) mass ratio on the leaching behavior of silica from titanium-vanadium slag were investigated. The leaching temperature and L/S mass ratio played considerable role in the desilication process. Under the optimal conditions, 88.2% silicon, 66.3% aluminum, 27.3% manganese, and only 1.2% vanadium were leached out. The desilication kinetics of the titanium-vanadium slag was described by the chemical control model. The apparent activation enerffv of the desilication orocess was found to be 46.3 kJ/mol.
TiO2 is a latent anode material for rechargeable lithium batteries. Our simulation models, basing lepidocrocite and 2-MnO2 type TiO2 were investigated by density functional theory (DFT). The key issues are focused on the lithium insertion sites, electronic structures, and the conducting paths of Li+ ions. Our calculated data indicate the calculated voltage of 2-MnO2 type TiO2 is higher than that of lepidocrocite type TiO2. The Li+ ion migration energy barrier of lepidocroeite type YiO2 along the [1 0 0] direction (0.45 eV) is lower than that of along the [110] direction (0.57 eV). The energy barriers of 2-MnO2 type TiO2 to move a Li+ ion among the adjacent embedded sites (16c or 8a sites) is 0.68 eV.