Application of the Rotating Cylinder Electrode in Molten LiCl-KCl Eutectic Containing Uranium(III)- and Magnesium(II)-chloride

Authors

• Devin Rappleye, Brigham Young University - ProvoFollow
• Michael F. Simpson, University of Utah

Keywords

rotating cylinder electrode, molten salt electroanalysis, co-deposition modeling

Abstract

The application of the rotating cylinder electrode (RCE) to molten LiCl-KCl eutectic mixtures for electroanalytical measurements is presented. This enabled the measurement of the limiting current which was observed to follow a linear trend with the rotational rate raised to 0.64–0.65 power on average, which closely agrees with existing RCE mass-transfer correlations. This is the first publication of electroanalytical RCE measurements in LiCl-KCl eutectic based molten salt mixtures, to our knowledge. These measurements were made in mixtures of molten LiCl-KCl eutectic containing UCl₃ and MgCl₂. Kinetic parameters were calculated for Mg²⁺ in LiCl-KCl eutectic. The exchange current density (io) of Mg²⁺ deposition varied with mole fraction (x) according to io(A cm−2) = 1.64x0.689. The parameters from RCE measurements were also applied in an electrochemical co-deposition model entitled DREP to detect and predict the deposition rate of U and Mg. DREP succeeded in detecting the co-deposition of U and Mg, even when Mg constituted less than 0.5 wt% of the deposit.

Original Publication Citation

Devin Rappleye, Michael F. Simpson, Application of the rotating cylinder electrode in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic containing uranium(III)- and magnesium(II)-chloride, Journal of Nuclear Materials, Volume 487, 2017, Pages 362-372, ISSN 0022-3115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.02.037.

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation

Rappleye, Devin and Simpson, Michael F., "Application of the Rotating Cylinder Electrode in Molten LiCl-KCl Eutectic Containing Uranium(III)- and Magnesium(II)-chloride" (2017). Faculty Publications. 8895.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/8895

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2017-02-27

Publisher

Journal of Nuclear Materials

Language

English

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering

Department

Chemical Engineering

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

Copyright Status

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This is the author's accepted version of this article. The definitive version can be found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.02.037.

Copyright Use Information

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