DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Exploring Cr and molten salt interfacial interactions for molten salt applications

Journal Article · · Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d4cp01122h · OSTI ID:2432563
 [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3];  [3];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [3];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]
  1. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
  4. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  5. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  6. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  7. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)

Molten salts play an important role in various energy-related applications such as high-temperature heat transfer fluids and reaction media. However, the extreme molten salt environment causes the degradation of materials, raising safety and sustainability challenges. A fundamental understanding of material–molten salt interfacial evolution is needed. This work studies the transformation of metallic Cr in molten 50/50 mol% KCl–MgCl2via multi-modal in situ synchrotron X-ray nano-tomography, diffraction and spectroscopy combined with density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. Notably, in addition to the dissolution of Cr in the molten salt to form porous structures, a δ-A15 Cr phase was found to gradually form as a result of the metal–salt interaction. This phase change of Cr is associated with a change in the coordination environment of Cr at the interface. DFT and AIMD simulations provide a basis for understanding the enhanced stability of δ-A15 Cr vs. bcc Cr, by revealing their competitive phase thermodynamics at elevated temperatures and probing the interfacial behavior of the molten salt at relevant facets. This study provides critical insights into the morphological and chemical evolution of metal–molten salt interfaces. Finally, the combination of multimodal synchrotron analysis and atomic simulation also offers an opportunity to explore a broader range of systems critical to energy applications.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Molten Salts in Extreme Environments (MSEE)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
2432563
Report Number(s):
BNL--225940-2024-JAAM
Journal Information:
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP, Journal Name: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP Journal Issue: 32 Vol. 26; ISSN 1463-9076
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (87)

Molten Salt Driven Conversion Reaction Enabling Lithiophilic and Air‐Stable Garnet Surface for Solid‐State Lithium Batteries journal October 2022
Integrated High‐Throughput and Machine Learning Methods to Accelerate Discovery of Molten Salt Corrosion‐Resistant Alloys journal May 2022
Local Ordering of Molten Salts at NiO Crystal Interfaces Promotes High‐Index Faceting journal September 2021
Corrosion of Structural Alloys in High-Temperature Molten Fluoride Salts for Applications in Molten Salt Reactors journal June 2018
Crystal habit and crystal structure of fine chromium particles: An electron microscope and electron diffraction study of fine metallic particles prepared by evaporation in argon at low pressures (III) journal September 1974
On the relations between the δ-Cr and α-Cr phases journal April 1989
Efficiency of ab-initio total energy calculations for metals and semiconductors using a plane-wave basis set journal July 1996
On the formation of nonequilibrium A15 crystal structure chromium thin films by sputter deposition journal January 1998
Mechanistic insights into high lithium storage performance of mesoporous chromium nitride anchored on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes journal November 2017
Effects of the oxidants H 2 O and CrF 3 on the corrosion of pure metals in molten (Li,Na,K)F journal February 2016
Investigating corrosion behavior of Ni and Ni-20Cr in molten ZnCl2 journal February 2021
Corrosion behavior of boronized nickel-based alloys in the molten chloride Salt journal April 2021
Effect of excess Mg to control corrosion in molten MgCl2 and KCl eutectic salt mixture journal January 2022
Visualizing time-dependent microstructural and chemical evolution during molten salt corrosion of Ni-20Cr model alloy using correlative quasi in situ TEM and in situ synchrotron X-ray nano-tomography journal February 2022
Alloying effects in high temperature molten salt corrosion journal April 2022
A molten battery consisting of Li metal anode, AlCl3-LiCl cathode and solid electrolyte journal January 2020
Molten salt strategies towards carbon materials for energy storage and conversion journal June 2021
MgO/Molten salt interfacial thermal transport and its consequences on thermophysical property enhancement: A molecular dynamics study journal June 2023
Aggregation and data analysis of corrosion studies in molten chloride and fluoride salts journal December 2018
Corrosion of commercial alloys in FLiNaK molten salt containing EuF3 and simulant fission product additives journal April 2020
Molten salts for rechargeable batteries journal November 2022
Thermal energy storage technologies and systems for concentrating solar power plants journal August 2013
Corrosion in the molten fluoride and chloride salts and materials development for nuclear applications journal August 2018
The molten salt reactor (MSR) in generation IV: Overview and perspectives journal November 2014
Concentrated solar power plants: Review and design methodology journal June 2013
Corrosion mechanisms in molten salt thermal energy storage for concentrating solar power journal October 2019
First principles phonon calculations in materials science journal November 2015
Determining oxidation states of transition metals in molten salt corrosion using electron energy loss spectroscopy journal May 2021
High-temperature corrosion rate and diffusion modelling of Ni-coated incoloy 800H alloy in MgCl2–KCl heat transfer fluid journal August 2022
Development of robust neural-network interatomic potential for molten salt journal March 2021
A freeze-thaw molten salt battery for seasonal storage journal April 2022
Radiation-Assisted Formation of Metal Nanoparticles in Molten Salts journal December 2020
Low-Temperature Molten Salt Synthesis for Ligand-Free Transition Metal Oxide Nanoparticles journal April 2020
Complex Structure of Molten NaCl–CrCl 3 Salt: Cr–Cl Octahedral Network and Intermediate-Range Order journal March 2021
Temperature-Dependent Morphological Evolution during Corrosion of the Ni-20Cr Alloy in Molten Salt Revealed by Multiscale Imaging journal March 2023
Revealing 3D Morphological and Chemical Evolution Mechanisms of Metals in Molten Salt by Multimodal Microscopy journal March 2020
Surface Reconstructions of Metal Oxides and the Consequences on Catalytic Chemistry journal May 2019
Ionic Liquids-Enabled Efficient and Stable Perovskite Photovoltaics: Progress and Challenges journal March 2021
Manipulation of Phase and Microstructure at Nanoscale for SiC in Molten Salt Synthesis journal May 2013
Noncrystalline-to-Crystalline Transformations in Pt Nanoparticles journal August 2013
A Holistic Approach for Elucidating Local Structure, Dynamics, and Speciation in Molten Salts with High Structural Disorder journal September 2021
A Molten Salt Lithium–Oxygen Battery journal February 2016
Element Replacement Approach by Reaction with Lewis Acidic Molten Salts to Synthesize Nanolaminated MAX Phases and MXenes journal March 2019
A View from the Inside:  Complexity in the Atomic Scale Ordering of Supported Metal Nanoparticles journal December 2001
Stable colloids in molten inorganic salts journal February 2017
A zero-strain layered metal oxide as the negative electrode for long-life sodium-ion batteries journal August 2013
Synergistic effect of quinary molten salts and ruthenium catalyst for high-power-density lithium-carbon dioxide cell journal January 2020
Proton irradiation-decelerated intergranular corrosion of Ni-Cr alloys in molten salt journal July 2020
Three-component radical homo Mannich reaction journal February 2021
One dimensional wormhole corrosion in metals journal February 2023
Gradient Li-rich oxide cathode particles immunized against oxygen release by a molten salt treatment journal December 2019
A general Lewis acidic etching route for preparing MXenes with enhanced electrochemical performance in non-aqueous electrolyte journal April 2020
Salt melt synthesis of ceramics, semiconductors and carbon nanostructures journal January 2013
A low temperature molten salt process for aluminothermic reduction of silicon oxides to crystalline Si for Li-ion batteries journal January 2015
Replacing hybrid density functional theory: motivation and recent advances journal January 2021
X-ray scattering reveals ion clustering of dilute chromium species in molten chloride medium journal January 2021
Model structures of molten salt-promoted MgO to probe the mechanism of MgCO3 formation during CO2 capture at a solid–liquid interface journal January 2022
DIOPTAS : a program for reduction of two-dimensional X-ray diffraction data and data exploration journal May 2015
Surface properties of 3dtransition metals journal September 2011
Electron correlations in narrow energy bands journal November 1963
Localized Magnetic States in Metals journal October 1961
Surface strain of tungsten (001) journal January 1991
Ab initio molecular dynamics for open-shell transition metals journal November 1993
Ab initio molecular-dynamics simulation of the liquid-metal–amorphous-semiconductor transition in germanium journal May 1994
Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set journal October 1996
Calculated elastic constants and electronic and magnetic properties of bcc, fcc, and hcp Cr crystals and thin films journal August 2000
Magnetic ground state of Cr in density-functional theory journal May 2002
Assessing the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof exchange-correlation density functional revised for metallic bulk and surface systems journal May 2008
Antiphase Antiferromagnetic Structure of Chromium journal September 1959
Generalized Gradient Approximation Made Simple [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865 (1996)] journal February 1997
Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof Reply: journal January 1998
ATHENA , ARTEMIS , HEPHAESTUS : data analysis for X-ray absorption spectroscopy using IFEFFIT journal June 2005
Application of glancing-emergent-angle fluorescence for polarized XAFS studies of single crystals journal April 2007
TomoPy: a framework for the analysis of synchrotron tomographic data journal August 2014
Versatile compact heater design for in situ nano-tomography by transmission X-ray microscopy journal April 2020
Experimental Test of Properties of KCl–MgCl2 Eutectic Molten Salt for Heat Transfer and Thermal Storage Fluid in Concentrated Solar Power Systems journal May 2018
Deciphering the structural dynamics in molten salt–promoted MgO-based CO 2 sorbents and their role in the CO 2 uptake journal June 2023
Covalent surface modifications and superconductivity of two-dimensional metal carbide MXenes journal July 2020
An Electron Microscope Study on Fine Metal Particles Prepared by Evaporation in Argon Gas at Low Pressure journal November 1963
An Electron Diffraction Study on the Crystal Structure of a New Modification of Chromium journal March 1967
Growth and Structure of Thin Chromium Films Condensed on Ultra-High Vacuum Cleaved NaCl and KCl Crystals journal December 1970
Magnetic Properties of a New Magnetic Phase in Fine bcc Chromium Particles Prepared by Gas Evaporation Method journal September 1980
An Anode Material of CrN for Lithium-Ion Batteries journal January 2007
Electrochemical Corrosion Studies in Molten Chloride Salts journal June 2022
Evaluation of Salt Coolants for Reactor Applications journal September 2008
Molten Salt Mixture Properties (KF-ZrF4and KCl-MgCl2) for Use in RELAP5-3D for High-Temperature Reactor Application journal June 2012
Roadmap for thermal property measurements of Molten Salt Reactor systems report March 2021