Abstract
The titanium diboride inert cathode was made by means of the cold pressing and sintering process. Full density TiB2-inert cathode samples were produced successfully due to the improvement in sintering features by the MoSi2 addition. It is found that liquid aluminium can wet the TiB2-inert cathode much better than the molten electrolyte by means of electronic microscopic analyses, so that the cathode can avoid the direct contact with the molten electrolyte. It is also found that the corrosion of the TiB2-inert cathode is due to the reaction of molten electrolyte at the grain boundaries of the cathode. The corrosion rate of the cathode was measured by experiments as 2.22 mm per year i.e. very good corrosion resistance.
