Effect of cathode material on the electrorefining of U in LiCl-KCl molten salts

The influence of cathode materials on the U electrorefining process is examined using electrochemical measurements and SEM-EDX observations. Stainless steel (STS), Mo, and W electrodes exhibit similar U reduction/oxidation behavior in 500 °C LiCl-KCl-UCl3 molten salts, as revealed by the cyclic volt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of nuclear materials 2017-05, Vol.488, p.210-214
Main Authors: Lee, Chang Hwa, Kim, Tack-Jin, Park, Sungbin, Lee, Sung-Jai, Paek, Seung-Woo, Ahn, Do-Hee, Cho, Sung-Ki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cathodes
Crystals
Dendrites
Dilution
Electrochemistry
Electrode materials
Electrodes
Electrorefining
Kinetics
Lithium chloride
Mapping
Molten salts
Oxidation
Potassium chloride
Reaction kinetics
Reduction
Salts
Scraping
Stainless steel
Studies
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Summary:The influence of cathode materials on the U electrorefining process is examined using electrochemical measurements and SEM-EDX observations. Stainless steel (STS), Mo, and W electrodes exhibit similar U reduction/oxidation behavior in 500 °C LiCl-KCl-UCl3 molten salts, as revealed by the cyclic voltammograms. However, slight shifts are observed in the cathodic and anodic peak potentials at the STS electrode, which are related to the fast reduction/oxidation kinetics associated with this electrode. The U deposits on the Mo and W electrodes consist of uniform dendritic chains of U in rhomboidal-shaped crystals, whereas several U dendrites protruding from the surface are observed for the STS electrode. EDX mapping of the electrode surfaces reveals that simple scraping of the U dendrites from W electrodes pretreated in dilute HCl solutions to dissolve the residual salt, results in clear removal of the U deposits, whereas a thick U deposit layer strongly adheres to the STS electrode surface even after treatment. This result is expected to contribute to the development of an effective and continuous U recovery process using electrorefining.
ISSN:0022-3115
1873-4820
DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.03.023