FFC Cambridge process and removal of oxygen from metal-oxygen systems by molten salt electrolysis: An overview

The FFC Cambridge process for the reduction of metal oxides was discovered in 1997 by observing that it was possible to reduce solid oxide films on titanium foil by making the foil cathodic in a bath of molten calcium chloride. This observation led to experiments, which demonstrated that it was possible to reduce solid titanium oxide pellets. Since the late nineties these results have been reproduced at laboratories across the world, not only for titanium dioxide but other metal oxides as well. Mixtures of oxides have also been reduced to form alloys and intermetallic compounds. This review discusses the process, the mechanism of reduction, its development and future prospects.