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Title: Evaluation of alkali bromide salts for potential pyrochemical applications

Conference ·
OSTI ID:22264121
; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Separations Department, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls 83415-6190 (United States)
  2. Biological and Chemical Processing Department, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls 83415-6180 (United States)

Transient techniques were employed to study the electrochemical behavior, reduction mechanism and transport properties of REBr{sub 3} (RE - La, Nd and Gd) in pure LiBr, LiBr-KBr (eutectic) and LiBr-KBr-CsBr (eutectic) melts. Gd(III) showed a reversible single step soluble-insoluble exchange phenomenon in LiBr melt at 973 K. Although La (III), Nd(III) and Gd(III) ions showed reversible behavior in eutectic LiBr-KBr melts, these ions showed a combination of temperature dependent reversible and pseudo-reversible behavior. While both La(III) and Gd(III) showed one step reduction, the reduction of Nd(III) was observed to be a two step process. La metal could be electrodeposited from the ternary electrolyte at a temperature of 673 K. Various electrochemical measurements suggest that both binary and ternary bromide melts can potentially be used to electro-deposit high purity RE metals at comparatively lower operating temperatures. (authors)

Research Organization:
American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
OSTI ID:
22264121
Resource Relation:
Conference: GLOBAL 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference - Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads, Salt Lake City, UT (United States), 29 Sep - 3 Oct 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France; 15 refs.; Related Information: In: Proceedings of GLOBAL 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference - Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads| 1633 p.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English