Analysis of the deoxidation process of copper with manganese using a platinum electrode-based sensor prepared by MOCVD

A sensor employing yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was used to determine the oxygen partial pressure and oxygen content in liquid Cu-Mn alloys in the range 1,100° to 1,300 °C. The YSZ sensors were coated with platinum electrode films deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to increase the conductivity of the measuring devices and to decrease their response time. The depth of the Pt film measured was 7 μm. At 1,200 and 1,300 °C fair agreement was obtained between the oxygen contents calculated from the measured probe EMF and those obtained by chemical analysis. The deoxidation process of liquid copper using Mn, Fe and P was analyzed by the interaction parameters model which showed that the minimum oxygen content at 1,200 °C was about 2, 90 and 500 ppm, using manganese, iron and phosphorus as deoxidation agents, respectively.