title: Preparation of Mo nanopowders through electroreduction of solid MoS2 in molten KCl-NaCl.
abstract: Electrolysis of MoS2 to produce Mo nanopowders and elemental sulfur has been studied in an equimolar mixture of NaCl and KCl at 700 °C. The reduction mechanism was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), potentiostatic and constant voltage electrolysis together with spectroscopic and scanning electron microscopic analyses. The reduction pathway was identified to be MoS2 → LxMoS2 (x ≤ 1, L = Na or K) → L3Mo6S8 and LMo3S3 → Mo, and the last step to format metallic Mo was found to be relatively slow in kinetics. Electrolysis at a cell voltage of 2.7 V has led to a rapid reduction of MoS2 to nodular Mo nanoparticles (50-100 nm), with the current efficiency and energy consumption being about 92% and 2.07 kW h kg(-1)-Mo, respectively.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Haiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Mingsheng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Liangbin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Junjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Xianbo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: George Z
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Chen