Preparation of titanium dioxide from titania-rich slag by molten NaOH method

Preparing titanium dioxide from titania-rich slag (TiO2 73wt%) by molten NaOH method has been developed. The effects of temperature and reaction time on the titanium conversion were investigated. The results showed that temperature had significant influence on the titanium conversion as well as the structure of the product. About 92% of titanium in the titania-rich slag could be converted after reacting with NaOH at 500 degrees C for 1 h. Metatitanic acid was formed through the steps of washing treatment, acid dissolution, and hydrolysis. Well-dispersed spherical titanium dioxide particles with an average size of 0.1-0.4 mu m can be obtained by calcination of metatitanic acid. In addition, the content of titanium dioxide in the product is up to 98.6wt%, which can be used as pigments after further treatment of coating and crushing