Electrochemical properties of Ce(iii) in an equimolar mixture of LiCl–KCl and NaCl–KCl molten salts

Abstract

The electrochemical behavior of CeCl₃ was investigated in two molten chloride mixtures, equimolar LiCl–KCl and NaCl–KCl melts using inert molybdenum and tungsten electrodes in the temperature range of 963 to 1053 K. Electrochemical methodologies like cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry were employed to investigate the electrode process. Results showed that reduction of Ce(III) to Ce(0) is quasireversible to irreversible in nature in both of these melts. The diffusion coefficient of Ce(III) was determined in both the systems at four different temperatures and Arrhenius treatment was employed to obtain the activation energy for the diffusion process in the molten salt mixtures. The exchange current density of Ce(III)/Ce(0) was evaluated in both the melts on Mo and W electrodes at four different temperatures from the Tafel plot.