• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.767-772
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• 2012

In support of optimizing electrorefining technology for treating spent nuclear fuel, lithium drawdown has been investigated for separating actinides from molten salt electrolyte. Drawdown reaction selectivity is a major issue that requires investigation, since the goal is to remove actinides while leaving the fission products and other components in the salt. A series of lithium drawdown tests with surrogate fission product chlorides was run to obtain selectivity data with non-radioactive salts, develop a predictive model, and draw conclusions about the viability of using this process with actinide-loaded salt. Results of tests with CsCl, $LaCl_3$, $CeCl_3$, and $NdCl_3$ are reported here. Equilibrium was typically achieved in less than 10 hours of contact between lithium metal and molten salt under well-stirred conditions. Maintaining low oxygen and water impurity concentrations (<10 ppm) in the atmosphere was observed to be critical to minimize side reactions and maintain stable salt compositions. An equilibrium model has been formulated and fit to the experimental data. Good fits to the data were achieved. Based on analysis and results obtained to date, it is concluded that clean separation between minor actinides and lanthanides will be difficult to achieve using lithium drawdown.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.1015-1019
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• 1996

Several alkyl chlorides were brominated using LiBr and $CaBr_2$ adsorbed on alumina in the absence of solvent. The yields of alkyl bromides were fairly high. Such a high reactivity by these bromide salts might be due to the interaction of minute amount of water and the salt on alumina. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermogram was provided and discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.540-543
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to research and develop solid polymer electrolyte(SPE) for Li polymer battery. The temperature dependence of conductivity, impedance spectroscopy and electrochemical properties of PAN/PVDF electrolytes as a function of a mixed ratio were reported for PAN/PVDF based polymer electrolyte films, which were prepared by thermal gellification method of preweighed PAN/PVDF, plasticizer and Li salt. The conductivity of PAN/PVDF electrolytes was $10^{-3}$S/cm. $PAN_{10}$$PVDF_{10}$$LiClO_4$$PC_{5}$$EC_{5}$ electrolyte has the better conductivity compared to others. The interfacial resistance behavior between the lithium electrode and PAN/PVDF based polymer electrolyte has also been investigated and compare with that between the lithium electrode and the PAN/PVDF based polymer electrolyte.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.374-377
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to research and develop solid polymer electrolyte(SPE) for Li polymer battery. This paper describes temperature dependence of conductivity, impedance spectroscopy, electrochemical properties of PVDF/PAN electrolytes as a function of a mixed ratio. PVDF/PAN based polymer electrolyte films were prepared by thermal gellification method of preweighed PVDF/PAN, plasticizer and Li salt. The conductivity of PVDF/PAN electrolytes was 10-3S/cm. 20PVDF5PANLiCIO$_4$PC$\sub$10//EC$\sub$10/ electrolyte shows the better conductivity of the others. 20P7DF5PANLiCI$_4$PC$\sub$10//EC$\sub$10/ electrolyte remains stable up to 5V vs. Li/Li$\^$+/. Steady state current method and ac impedance used for the determination of transference numbers in PVDF/PAN electrolyte film. The transference number of 20PVDF5ANLICIO$_4$/PC $\sub$10//EC$\sub$10/ electrolyte is 0.48

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.465-469
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• 2009

Characteristics of oxidation reaction of four lanthanide chlorides(Ce, Nd, Pr and $EuCl_3$) in a oxygen-eutectic(LiCl-KCl) salt bubble column was investigated. From the results obtained from the thermochemical calculations by HSC chemistry software, the most stable lanthanide compounds in the oxygen-used rare earth chlorides system were oxychlorides(EuOCl, NdOCl, PrOCl) and oxides($CeO_2$, $PrO_2$), which coincide well with results of the Gibbs free energy of the reaction. In this study, similar to the thermochemical results, regardless of the sparging time and molten salt temperature, oxychlorides for Eu, Nd and Pr and oxides for Ce and Pr were formed as a precipitant by a reaction with oxygen. The structure of the rare earth precipitates was divided into two shapes : small cubic(oxide) and large tetragonal (oxychloride) structures. The conversion efficiencies of the lanthanide elements to their molten salt-insoluble precipitates(or compound) were increased with the sparging time and temperature, and Ce showed the best reactivity. In the conditions of $650^{\circ}C$ of the molten salt temperature and 420 min of the sparging time, the conversion efficiencies were over 99% for all the investigated lanthanide chlorides.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2005

This study suggested a new method for the solidification of molten salt waste generated from the electro-metallurgical process in the spent fuel treatment. Using binary material system, sodium silicate and phosphoric acid, metal chlorides were converted into metal phosphate in the micro-reaction module formed by SiO$_{2} particles. The volatile element in the reaction module would little vaporized below 1100$^{circ}$C After the gel product was mixed with borosilicate glass powder and thermally treated at 1000$^{circ}$C, li exists as Li$_{3}$PO$_4$ separated from glass phase and, Cs and Sr would be incorporated into an amorphous phase from XRD analysis. In case of the addition of ZrCl$_{4}$ to the binary system, the gel products were transformed into NZP structure considered as an prospective ceramic waste form after heat-treatment above 700 $^{circ}$C. From these results, the gel-route pretreatment can be considered as an effective approach to the solidincation of molten salt waste by the confirmed process or waste form and this also would be an alternative method on the ANL method using zeolites in USA by the confirmation of its chemical durability as an future work.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.245-250
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• 2016

The layered $Na_{0.6}Li_{0.6}[Mn_{0.72}Ni_{0.18}Co_{0.10}]O_2$ composite with well crystalized and high specific capacity is prepared by molten-salt method and using the substitution of Na for Li-ion battery. The effects of annealing temperature, time, Na contents, and electrochemical performance are investigated. In XRD analysis, the substitution of Na-ion resulted in the P2-$Na_{2/3}MO_2$ structure ($Na_{0.70}MO_{2.05}$), which co-exists in the $Na_{0.6}Li_{0.6}[Mn_{0.72}Ni_{0.18}Co_{0.10}]O_2$ composites. The discharge capacities of cathode materials exhibited $284mAhg^{-1}$ with higher initial coulombic efficiency.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2022

Liquid Bi pool is a candidate electrode for an electrometallurgical process in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic to treat the spent nuclear fuels from nuclear power plants. The electrochemical behavior of Bi³⁺ ions and the electrode reaction on liquid Bi pool were investigated with the cyclic voltammetry in an environment with or without BiCl₃ in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. Experimental results showed that two redox reactions of Bi³⁺ on inert W electrode and the shift of cathodic peak potentials of Li⁺ and Bi³⁺ on liquid Bi pool electrode in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. It is confirmed that the redox reaction of lithium with respect to the liquid Bi pool electrode would occur in a wide range of potentials in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. The obtained data will be used to design the electrometallurgical process for treating actinide and lanthanide from the spent nuclear fuels and to understand the electrochemical reactions of actinide and lanthanide at liquid Bi pool electrode in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.319-329
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• 2004

The electrorefining experiments with an anode composed of U, Y, Gd, Nd and Ce (or U, Gd, Dy and Ce) were carried out in the KC1-LiCl eutectic melt at $500^{\circ}C$, Uranium was the major component in the cathode deposits at the high initial uranium concentration, and the separation factors of the uranium with respect to the rare earths (REs) were calculated according to the applied voltage and the uranium concentration in the molten salt. The current efficiency was inversely in proportion to the applied voltage in the range of 1.0 V to 1, 9 V (vs. STS304L). The dependency of the applied voltage on the current efficiency as well as the deposition rate was discussed in terms of the microstructural feature and crystal structure of the deposit.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.1452-1461
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• 2020

A triple bubbler sensor was tested in LiCl-KCl molten salt from 450 to 525 ℃ in a transparent furnace to validate thermal-expansion corrections and provide additional molten salt data sets for calibration and validation of the sensor. In addition to these tests, a model was identified and further developed to accurately determine the density, surface tension, and depth from the measured bubble pressures. A unique feature of the model is that calibration constants can be estimated using independent depth measurements, which allow calibration and validation of the sensor in an electrorefiner where the salt density and surface tension are largely unknown. This model and approach were tested using the current and previous triple bubbler data sets, and results indicate that accuracies are as high as 0.03%, 4.6%, and 0.15% for density, surface tension, and depth, respectively.