THE WETTABILITY OF CARBON/TIB2 COMPOSITE-MATERIALS BY ALUMINUM IN CRYOLITE MELTS

Both pure TiB2 and carbon/TiB2 composites are potential cathode materials for aluminum reduction cells. An important requirement for this application is that the material be wetted by aluminum in cryolite melts. A sessile drop technique combined with X-ray radiography was used to measure the contact angle formed between aluminum and pure hot-pressed TiB2, carbon/TiB2 composite, graphite, and a carbonaceous cement in cryolite melts. Pure hot-pressed TiB2 was found to be completely wetted by aluminum in cryolite melts. Graphite and the carbonaceous cement were nonwetted by aluminum in cryolite melts, the contact angles being in the range of 144 to 158 deg. The contact angle formed by aluminum on the carbon/TiB2 composite in cryolite melts exhibited time dependency. It was proposed the time dependency was due to (1) removal of contamination from the composite surface and (2) removal of aluminum from the drop. The wettability of the composite material increased as the TiB2 content increased.