Electrochemical deoxidation of yttrium-oxygen solid solutions

Oxygen was removed from yttrium by an electrochemical method in which the metal is made the cathode in a cell consisting of a carbon anode and molten CaCl2 electrolyte. At 1223 K yttrium containing 5700 ppm oxygen was deoxidized down to less than 100 ppm. The method can be used to deoxidize other highly reactive metals. Furthermore, in principle it should be possible to remove other impurities besides oxygen.