Reduction of titanium oxide in the presence of nickel by nonequilibrium hydrogen gas

We investigated the reduction of TiO₂ in the presence of Ni by nonequilibrium hydrogen gas, including low-temperature hydrogen plasma at 800 °C and supercooled monatomic hydrogen at 1000 °C. TiO₂ was reduced to Ti₂O₃, which is not in equilibrium phase, by low-temperature hydrogen plasma. The results of x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive x-ray analysis in experiments at 1000 °C indicate that the thermodynamical reduction potential of supercooled monatomic hydrogen is almost the same as atmospheric hydrogen gas. However, the wide Ti₃O₅ layer formed only in the case of the reduction at 1000 °C by supercooled monatomic hydrogen. With these experimental facts, we speculate that the reduction mechanism by nonequilibrium hydrogen consists of two steps; the releasing energy process and the relaxation process. We can explain the difference of reduction products by nonequilibrium hydrogen gas on the assumption of the rate of the relaxation process between 800 and 1000 °C.