The present application belongs to the technical field of aluminum metallurgy, and specifically relates to a method for producing metallic aluminum and polysilicon with a high-silicon aluminum-containing resource. The method includes: pretreating the high-silicon aluminum-containing resource to obtain an aluminum-silicon oxide material; the aluminum-silicon oxide material is used to produce a metallic aluminum product and a copper-aluminum-silicon alloy with silicon enriched by molten salt electrolysis in a double-chamber electrolytic cell; and the copper-aluminum-silicon alloy is used to produce an aluminum-silicon alloy and/or polysilicon by molten salt electrolysis in a single-chamber electrolytic cell, and further separating the aluminum-silicon alloy by physical methods to obtain polysilicon. The present application has characteristics such as low production cost, continuous electrolysis operations, high product quality, and environmental friendliness.

The present application belongs to the technical field of aluminum metallurgy, and specifically relates to a method for producing metallic aluminum and polysilicon with a high-silicon aluminum-containing resource. The method includes: pretreating the high-silicon aluminum-containing resource to obtain an aluminum-silicon oxide material; the aluminum-silicon oxide material is used to produce a metallic aluminum product and a copper-aluminum-silicon alloy with silicon enriched by molten salt electrolysis in a double-chamber electrolytic cell; and the copper-aluminum-silicon alloy is used to produce an aluminum-silicon alloy and/or polysilicon by molten salt electrolysis in a single-chamber electrolytic cell, and further separating the aluminum-silicon alloy by physical methods to obtain polysilicon. The present application has characteristics such as low production cost, continuous electrolysis operations, high product quality, and environmental friendliness.

A method for the electrochemical production silicon comprises applying an electrical potential across an anode and a cathode to provide electrons at the cathode. The anode and the cathode are in contact with an electrolyte melt at a reaction temperature. The electrolyte melt comprises a molten salt or a mixture of molten salts; a silicon-containing precursor at least partially dissolved in the electrolyte melt to provide soluble silicon-containing ions in the electrolyte melt; and a supporting electrolyte at least partially dissolved in the electrolyte melt to provide O.sup.2 ions in the electrolyte melt. The soluble silicon-containing ions at the cathode undergo reduction reactions with the electrons to release O.sup.2 ions and deposit silicon on the cathode.

A substrate-free, self-supporting and/or binder-free silicon material, as well as related articles, systems and methods are disclosed. The silicon material can have a relatively large empty volume, and/or a relatively low density. Exemplary articles include battery electrodes, such as rechargeable metal ion battery electrodes. Exemplary systems include batteries, such as rechargeable metal ion batteries.

The present disclosure provides methods and systems for electrorefining high-purity materials, for example, silicon. An exemplary system includes at least one cathode, an anode, and a reference electrode. At least one controller, for example a potentiostat, is used to control the potential difference between a reference electrode and a cathode or anode. The system can be operated in a single phase or multiple phase operation to produce high-purity materials, such as solar-grade silicon.

Provided is a method for producing metal by molten salt electrolysis, by which the metal can be efficiently produced. A method for producing metal by using an apparatus for molten salt electrolysis having an electrolytic cell and an electrode pair, wherein the molten salt electrolysis in the electrolytic cell and heating of the molten salt by a Joule heat generation between a pair of electrodes for electrolysis are simultaneously performed; and wherein the apparatus for molten salt electrolysis has at least two sets of electrode pair, and at least one set of the electrode pairs is electrically opened.

Photoactive silicon films may be formed by electrodeposition from a molten salt electrolyte. In an embodiment, SiO.sub.2 is electrochemically reduced in a molten salt bath to deposit silicon on a carbonaceous substrate.

The invention relates to a nano silicon-carbon composite negative material for lithium ion batteries and a preparation method thereof. A porous electrode composed of silica and carbon is taken as a raw material, and a nano silicon-carbon composite material of carbon-loaded nano silicon is formed by a molten salt electrolysis method in a manner of silica in-situ electrochemical reduction. Silicon and carbon of the material are connected by nano silicon carbide, and are metallurgical-grade combination, so that the electrochemical cycle stability of the nano silicon-carbon composite material is improved. The preparation method of the nano silicon-carbon composite material provided by the invention comprises the following steps: compounding a porous block composed of carbon and silica powder with a conductive cathode collector as a cathode; using graphite or an inert anode as an anode, and putting the cathode and anode into CaCl.sub.2 electrolyte or mixed salt melt electrolyte containing CaCl.sub.2 to form an electrolytic cell; applying voltage between the cathode and the anode; controlling the electrolytic voltage, the electrolytic current density and the electrolytic quantity, so that silica in the porous block is deoxidized into nano silicon by electrolytic reduction, and the nano silicon-carbon composite material for lithium ion batteries is prepared at the cathode.

A system and method for molten electrolysis includes a molten electrolyte reactor, a silicon refiner reactor, and an aluminum refiner reactor to accommodate the extraction of metals and oxygen from metal oxide feedstock. The reactor systems, designed to operate in the vacuum environment of the Moon, incorporate heat sources to melt the metal oxide feedstock, anodes and cathodes to support electrolysis, systems interconnecting the reactors, and systems allowing for removal of materials from the reactors.

A system and method for molten electrolysis includes a molten electrolyte reactor, a silicon refiner reactor, and an aluminum refiner reactor to accommodate the extraction of metals and oxygen from metal oxide feedstock. The reactor systems, designed to operate in the vacuum environment of the Moon, incorporate heat sources to melt the metal oxide feedstock, anodes and cathodes to support electrolysis, systems interconnecting the reactors, and systems allowing for removal of materials from the reactors.