Premium
Extraction of neodymium from other fission products by co‐reduction of Sn and Nd
Author(s) -
Xu Hengbin,
Zhang Milin,
Yan Yongde,
Sun Xin,
Zheng Yanghai,
Qiu Min,
Liu Li
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
applied organometallic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1099-0739
pISSN - 0268-2605
DOI - 10.1002/aoc.4802
Subject(s) - electrolysis , chemistry , electrochemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , electrode , scanning electron microscope , alloy , inductively coupled plasma , materials science , electrolyte , plasma , physics , organic chemistry , chromatography , quantum mechanics , composite material
High temperature processing is an important method for recovering long‐lived elements from spent nuclear fuel. Electrolysis is the key technology for high temperature processing. The electrochemical behaviors of Sn 2+ , Nd 3+ and the mechanisms of Sn‐Nd alloy formation were investigated on a Mo electrode at 873 K by conducting a series of electrochemical techniques. The results showed the deposition of Nd on inert electrode is a two‐step process in LiCl‐KCl‐SnCl 2 (2.0 wt.%) melt system. Subsequently, the electrochemical extraction of Nd from molten chlorides were carried out on the Mo electrode at temperature of 873 K by the potentiostatic electrolysis at −1.2 V for 40 hr. Besides, the extraction efficiency is 97.6%. A series of potentiostatic electrolysis were carried out at potential range between −1.0 and − 1.4 V. The NdSn 3 alloy was obtained by electrolysis at −1.2 V. This deposition potential is consistent with the predicted results of the mathematical model. The micro‐chemical analysis and morphology analysis of the deposits was characterized by energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped. The composition of the deposits was analyzed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and inductive coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP‐AES).