The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 29, 1981
Filed:
Aug. 15, 1980
Perry A Foster, Jr, New Kensington, PA (US);
Subodh K Das, Apollo, PA (US);
Aaron J Becker, Monroeville, PA (US);
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
A metal such as aluminum is produced by electrolysis of a compound of the metal in a solvent such as a molten salt. Electrolysis is carried out by passing a current from an anode to a cathode between which the solvent bath is situated. The cathode or cathode member is composed of a graphite substrate coated with a refractory hard metal such as titanium diboride. The coating adhesion of the TiB.sub.2 is improved through control of the manufacture and structure of the graphite substrate to favor a higher coefficient of thermal expansion and to have the density of the graphite fall within a range of 1.6 to 1.85 grams per cubic centimeter. The steps in producing the graphite may include working it so as to provide a grain direction. One embodiment includes aligning the refractory hard metal coated graphite in the electrolytic cell with the graphite grain direction parallel to the direction of current flow from anode to cathode. The refractory hard metal coating can be imparted by chemical vapor deposition and should exhibit a dense columnar structure which reduces penetration of the coating by molten aluminum.