The Electrochemical Behavior of Zr(IV) and Y(III) in NaCl-KCl-K 2 ZrF 6 -YCl 3 Molten Salt

• Published in: Journal of the Electrochemical Society 2023-10, Vol.170 (10), p.106506
• Main Authors: Wang, Yanli, Sun, Rongfa, Yang, Lingxu, Liu, Huijun, Zeng, Chaoliu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0013-4651; 1945-7111
• DOI: 10.1149/1945-7111/ad02c3

In this paper, the electrochemical behavior of Zr(IV) and Y(III) in NaCl-KCl-K 2 ZrF 6 -YCl 3 molten salts is studied by cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, and chronopotentiometry methods, which will provide a theoretical foundation for the preparation of Zr-Y alloy coating by molten salt electrodeposition method. Results show that the reduction of Zr(IV) on molybdenum electrode is a three-step charge-transfer process, while the reduction of Y(III) is a single-step diffusion-controlled three-electron quasi-reversible process at −0.30 V vs Pt. In addition, the diffusion coefficient of Y(III) in the melt at 750 °C is calculated as 2.15 × 10 −5 cm 2 ·s −1 . The reduction of Zr(IV) and Y(III) on molybdenum electrode in NaCl-KCl-K 2 ZrF 6 -YCl 3 molten salts has also been studied by cyclic voltammetry method. Results indicate that the Zr-Y alloy coating can be obtained on molybdenum electrode by galvanostatic electrolysis at −1.50 V vs Pt for 30 min.