Electrochemical Deposition of Erbium on a Binary Al-Zn Cathode

Abstract

In this work, the electrochemical behaviors of Er(III) on different kinds of electrode materials (W and liquid Al-Zn cathode), as a representative of lanthanides (Lns), were studied systematically by various electrochemical techniques. This opened the door toward the development of active electrode materials for recovering actinides (Ans) over Lns in chloride molten salts. Compared to the direct deposition of Er metal on an inert cathode, the reduction of Er(III) occurs at more anodic potentials via forming binary or ternary intermetallic compounds in both co-reduction and under potential deposition processes. In addition, potentiostatic and galvanostatic electrolysis were both conducted to confirm the formation of intermetallics, and some typical related intermetallic compounds were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization. The morphology and composition of Er-Al-Zn ternary alloys were investigated using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS).