From the current technology perspective, metal silicon powder is mainly produced in electric furnaces through carbon thermal reduction method. After production is completed, the molten silicon is discharged from the electric furnace and then cast into larger blocks, forming metal silicon blocks that can be used for casting in cast iron molds. In many uses of silicon, a large part exists and is used in the form of powder, which is metal silicon powder.
Metal silicon powder, as the name suggests, is the mechanical crushing of silicon blocks or particles, and then grinding them into a powder with a set particle size and the required chemical composition. However, this production method has many drawbacks. Because during the process of casting molten silicon liquid into silicon blocks, its cooling rate is very slow. During the process of ingot casting, the alloying elements inside the molten silicon and some impurities contained in the molten silicon itself will have a strong segregation tendency. In addition, the solid silicon grains formed in this way are relatively coarse. Due to this segregation and relatively coarse primary grains, even after mechanical crushing and grinding of ingot silicon blocks, only powder products with uneven texture can be obtained.