Preparation and Electrochemical Dissolution of a Soluble Uranium Oxycarbide Anode

Zhiqiang Yang; Mingshuai Yang; Zhenfang Shen; Wenchen Song; Bin Li

doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c01917

Preparation and Electrochemical Dissolution of a Soluble Uranium Oxycarbide Anode

Inorg Chem. 2023 Aug 21;62(33):13512-13518. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c01917. Epub 2023 Aug 4.

Authors

Zhiqiang Yang¹, Mingshuai Yang², Zhenfang Shen², Wenchen Song², Bin Li²

Affiliations

¹ AECC Aero Science and Technology Co. LTD., Metrology and Phys & Chem Testing Center, Chengdu 610503, China.
² Department of Radiochemistry, China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing 102413, China.

PMID: 37540815
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c01917

Abstract

A soluble uranium oxycarbide (UC_0.4O_0.6) anode was synthesized by a carbothermal reduction process, using U₃O₈, UO₂, and graphite as raw materials, in a vacuum environment of 0.1 MPa at 1750 °C. The sintered UC_0.4O_0.6 exhibited excellent conductivity and stability in LiCl-KCl molten salt. The dissolution process of UC_0.4O_0.6 in molten salt was analyzed by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and the initial dissolution potential, rapid dissolution potential, and passivation potential were determined. The oxidation/reduction process of dissolved uranium ions in LiCl-KCl molten salt was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The experimental results showed that the addition of Li₂O significantly reduced the volatilization of U(VI) and increased the concentration of UO₂²⁺ in molten salt. Finally, the product was conducted by electrolysis at 1.0 V and was confirmed to be UO₂ by XRD and SEM-EDS analysis.