Electrochemical Deposition of U and RE Elements Using the Stirred Liquid Cadmium Cathode in LiCl-KCl Molten Salts

• Published in: Science and technology of nuclear installations Vol. 2021; pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Kim, Gha-Young, Lee, Chang Hwa, Yoon, Dalsung, Jang, Junhyuk, Lee, Sung-Jai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Hindawi 2021; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Cadmium; Cathodes; Dendritic structure; Electrodeposition; Electrolytes; Experiments; Molten salts; Performance evaluation; Japan
• ISSN: 1687-6075; 1687-6083
• DOI: 10.1155/2021/5788732

This study was conducted in an attempt to understand the effect of a stirred liquid cadmium cathode (LCC) on the electrodeposition of U and U/RE on Cd. For this purpose, a series of electrowinning tests were performed using an LCC equipped with a Cd stirrer. Initially, three runs of the U electrodeposition tests were conducted using LiCl-KCl-UCl3 at 500°C under a constant current. From the results obtained from the initial three runs, it was found that the maximum deposited amount of U was 7.4 wt% U/Cd. U dendrite formation on the LCC crucible was not observed across each of the three runs. Three additional runs were conducted using LiCl-KCl-UCl3-RECl3 to determine the extent of U/RE electrodeposition. The maximum number of moles of U + RE metals deposited was 0.07, a value estimated to be 2.14 times higher than the solubility limits exhibited by these metals in Cd. The results of this study show that the use of a Cd stirrer significantly improves the extent of U deposition.