• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.279-291
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• 2022

In this report the thermochemical conversion of Sm₂O₃ to SmCl₃ using AlCl₃ in LiCl-KCl melt at 773 K is discussed. The final product was a mixture of SmCl₃, Al₂O₃, unreacted Sm₂O₃ and AlCl₃ in the chloride melt. The electrochemical attributes of the mixture was analyzed with cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The crystallographic phases of the mixture were studied with X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The major chemical conversion was optimized by varying the effective parameters, such as concentrations of AlCl₃, duration of reaction and the amount of LiCl-KCl salt. The extent of conversion and qualitative assessment of efficiency of the present protocol were evaluated with fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectrophotometry and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) studies of the mixture. Thus, a critical assessment of the thermochemical conversion efficiency was accomplished by analysing the amount of SmCl₃ in LiCl-KCl melt. In the process, a conversion efficiency of 95% was achieved by doubling the stoichiometric requirement of AlCl₃ in 50 g of LiCl-KCl salt. The conversion reaction was found to be very fast as the reaction reached equilibrium in 15 min.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.672-678
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• 2017

In the production of zirconium cladding tube, a pickling acid solution is used to remove surface contaminants, which generates tons of pickling acid waste. The waste pickling solution is a valuable resource of Hf-free Zr. Many studies have investigated separating the Hf-free Zr source from the waste pickling acid. The results showed that $Ba_2ZrF_8$ precipitates prepared from the waste pickling acid were useful as an electrolyte for the electrorefining of Zr in molten salt. In the present work, electrorefining was performed in a $Ba_2ZrF_8-LiF$ binary electrolyte to recover Zr from a Hf-free CuZr ingot anode prepared by electroreduction. Before electrorefining, two pretreatments are performed. First, electrolyte melting was carried out to determine the eutectic temperature, and second, the electrolyte was treated to eliminate impurities, mainly hydride. After electrorefining, the cathode deposits were analyzed by $O_2$ gas analyzer and SEM-EDX to explore the possibility of recovering nuclear-grade Zr metal. Moreover, the anode was analyzed by SEM-EDX to determine the Zr dissolution depth.

• Metals and materials international
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1386-1393
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• 2018

The solubility of $TiO_2$ in $NaF-CaF_2-BaF_2$ ternary eutectic melts was investigated at the temperature range of $1025-1150^{\circ}C$. The least-squares equation was obtained from the relationship between the reciprocal temperature and the natural logarithm of the titanium concentration in the melts saturated with $TiO_2$. The corresponding partial molar enthalpy of dissolution of $TiO_2$ was found to be 188 kJ/mol. The titanium saturation concentration was 3.73 wt% at $1100^{\circ}C$. From the titanium concentration change with the added amount of $TiO_2$ at different holding time after a final stirring, it was found that not only complete dissolution of $TiO_2$ but also enough sedimentation of excessive $TiO_2$ should be guaranteed to obtain more reliable solubility data. The holding time of 10 h was found to be enough for the excessive $TiO_2$ particles to settle down in our experimental conditions. It is noteworthy that in case of adding $TiO_2$ in excess of its solubility, the $Ba_{1.12}(Ti_8O_{16})$ phase was observed at the lower and bottom of the solidified salt ingots.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1339-1346
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• 2024

Electrorefining in molten salts is used for purifying actinides. Optimizing electrorefining is key to minimizing processing time and radiological waste. One possible way of improving electrorefining efficiency is using an AC superimposed DC waveform. This waveform has demonstrated potential benefits in aqueous solutions but has never been utilized in a molten metal, molten salt application. This work investigates the effects of using an AC superimposed DC waveform on molten bismuth electrorefining in a molten LiCl-KCl-CaCl2 eutectic. Bismuth has been identified as a potential surrogate for plutonium electrorefining and a potential cathode in electrorefining used nuclear fuel (UNF). All electrorefining runs resulted in a high purity cathode ring and high yield with exception of the run using a low-frequency, high-amplitude superimposed AC waveform, which experienced some contamination and a lower yield. The other three AC superimposed DC runs experienced an average yield 6.7 % higher than the average yield of the DC runs. The electrorefining run using the high-frequency, high-amplitude superimposed AC signal had the highest yield. It is recommended in future studies to investigate the statistical variability of electrorefining yield and current efficiency and the impact of AC superimposed DC waveforms on solidified bismuth anodes.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.276-281
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• 2009

Electrochemical behaviors of $U^{3+}$ and $Gd^{3+}$ were investigated in LiCl-KCl eutectic molten salt by using various electrochemical techniques. The electrodeposition and dissolution currents for uranium show the maximum at -1.51V and -1.35V, respectively while, for gadolinium,at -2.15V and -1.9V, respectively. In case of LiCl-KCl molten salt containing both of $U^{3+}$ and $Gd^{3+}$, the peak potential of electrodeposition of gadolinium shifts to more positive potential than in the solution without $U^{3+}$. The potentials in chronopotentiometric data suddenly dropped to negative value as soon as the reduction currents were applied and became constant at the potential around which the $U^{3+}$ and $Gd^{3+}$ are electrodeposited. The results of normal pulse voltammetry (NPV) and square wave voltammetry show that those methods can be used to qualitatively analyze the elements in the melts. Especially, the differentiation of NPV result was found to be useful for the separation of the peaks of which potentials are close each other.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2007

Electrorefining experiments were successfully carried out in LiCl-KCl eutectic molten salt with a graphite cathode. It was found that the formation of Uranium-Graphite intercalation compound(U-GIC) helped the self-scraping mechanism of the uranium dendrite and the efficiency of the electrorefiner increased due to an elimination of the stripping step. The contaminations of the uranium deposit by rare earth elements was negligible while about 300 ppm of carbon was observed. The carbon contamination is believed to be eliminated by further purification by yttrium reaction. The morphology characteristics of the recovered U deposit was compared to that of steel cathode. These are only qualitative preliminary experimental results, but we believe that further research on this type of activity change the direction of the electrorefining research on spent nuclear fuel.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.303-316
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• 1987

The purpose f this study was to evaluate the effect of resin film thickness on the tensile bond strength and to compare the tensile bond strengths of 4 differently treated metal surfaces. For the experiment, seventy metal specimens were cast with Verabond and divided into I, II, III, groups. The metal specimens in group I were electrolytically etched and cemented with Panavia under finger pressure. Cement film thickness was regulated with metal spacers. The metal specimens in Group II were treated by 4 methods, such as electrolytic etching method, salt-roughened method, EZ-oxisor method , chemical etching method and cemented with Panavia. In group III, electrolytically etched metal specimens were cemented with Hy-Bond. The etched surface of metal specimens and the cement film thickness were examined under the scanning electron microscope. Results were as follows; 1. The tensile bond strength showed no significant difference between $30{\mu}m,\;80{\mu}m,\;130{\mu}m$ film thicknessspecimens. 2. There was no significant difference in the tensile bond strength between the 4 differently treated metal specimens. 3. The tensile bond strength showed significant difference between Panavia and Hy-Bond. 4. Scanning electron microscope photograph revealed that tile interdendritic eutectic was removed in electrolytically etched metal surfaces hilt even dendritic arm was removed in Chemically etched metal surfaces. 5. The metal surfaces which were air-abraded with $50{\mu}m$ aluminum oxide showed roughness and small crack on scanning electron microscope photograph.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.161-176
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• 2021

In this study, the electrochemical behavior of Sm on the binary liquid Al-Ga cathode in the LiCl-KCl molten salt system is investigated. First, the co-reduction process of Sm(III)-Al(III), Sm(III)-Ga(III), and Sm(III)-Ga(III)-Al(III) on the W electrode (inert) were studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), square-wave voltammetry (SWV) and open circuit potential (OCP) methods, respectively. It was identified that Sm(III) can be co-reduced with Al(III) or Ga(III) to form Al_zSm_y or Ga_xSm_y intermetallic compounds. Subsequently, the under-potential deposition of Sm(III) at the Al, Ga, and Al-Ga active cathode was performed to confirm the formation of Sm-based intermetallic compounds. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analyses indicated that Ga₃Sm and Ga₆Sm intermetallic compounds were formed on the Mo grid electrode (inert) during the potentiostatic electrolysis in LiCl-KCl-SmCl₃-AlCl₃-GaCl₃ melt, while only Ga₆Sm intermetallic compound was generated on the Al-Ga alloy electrode during the galvanostatic electrolysis in LiCl-KCl-SmCl₃ melt. The electrolysis results revealed that the interaction between Sm and Ga was predominant in the Al-Ga alloy electrode, with Al only acting as an additive to lower the melting point.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.377-385
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• 2022

Thermal batteries are specialized as primary reserve batteries that operate when the internal heat source is ignited and the produced heat (450~550℃) melts the initially insulating salt into highly conductive eutectic electrolyte. The heat source is composed of Fe powder and KClO₄ with different mass ratios and is inserted in-between the cells (stacks) to allow homogeneous heat transfer and ensure complete melting of the electrolyte. An ideal heat source has following criteria to satisfy: sufficient mechanical durability for stacking, appropriate heat calories, ease of combustion by an igniter, stable combustion rate, and modest peak temperature. To satisfy the aforementioned requirements, Fe powder must have high surface area and porosity to increase the reaction rate. Herein, the hydrothermal and spray drying synthesis techniques for Fe powder samples are employed to investigate the physicochemical properties of Fe powder samples and their applicability as a heat source constituent. The direct comparison with the state-of-the-art Fe powder is made to confirm the validity of synthesized products. Finally, the actual batteries were made with the synthesized iron powder samples to examine their performances during the battery operation.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.321-332
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• 2017

In order to build a general model of a high-throughput uranium electrorefining process according to the electrode configuration, numerical analysis was conducted using the COMSOL Multiphysics V5.3 electrodeposition module with Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) interfaces. The generated model was validated by comparing a current density-potential curve according to the distance between the anode and cathode and the electrode array, using a lab-scale (1kg U/day) multi-electrode electrorefiner made by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The operating temperature was $500^{\circ}C$ and LiCl-KCl eutectic with 3.5wt% $UCl_3$ was used for molten salt. The efficiency of the uranium electrorefining apparatus was improved by lowering the cell potential as the distance between the electrodes decreased and the anode/cathode area ratio increased. This approach will be useful for constructing database for safety design of high throughput spent nuclear fuel electrorefiners.