Electrochemical Measurement of Li2O in Molten LiCl Salt

Methods to prepare and condition a reference electrode for precise potential measurements in molten LiCl-Li2O are discussed in this paper. The Ni/NiO redox couple is commonly encased in MgO tubes containing porous, low-density MgO plugs that support ionic transport. Open circuit potential measuremen...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Burak, Adam J, Simpson, Michael Forrest
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Methods to prepare and condition a reference electrode for precise potential measurements in molten LiCl-Li2O are discussed in this paper. The Ni/NiO redox couple is commonly encased in MgO tubes containing porous, low-density MgO plugs that support ionic transport. Open circuit potential measurement between a source of fixed lithium activity and these reference electrodes is a promising approach to achieving real time Li2O concentration measurement in the salt. But the reference potentials must be extremely stable and reproducible in order for concentration correlations to be accurate for any given reference electrode. It was found in our study that pre-soaking of the reference electrodes is needed to eliminate transient effects. And equalizing the length of the porous MgO plugs is also critical to minimizing variability between different reference electrodes.
ISSN:1938-5862
1938-6737
DOI:10.1149/07515.0055ecst