Abstract
Molten fluoride salts have been studied for decades due to their applications in the production of aluminum as well as in the operation of advanced nuclear reactors. Advanced fission and fusion nuclear reactor designs may include molten fluoride salts as coolants, fuel carriers (fission), or fuel breeding blankets (fusion). Relevant to their nuclear applications are the thermophysical and thermochemical properties of the salt. These include viscosity and thermal conductivity, as well as density, vapor pressure, and heat capacity. Underlying these properties are the interactions of the ions constituting the liquid, characterized by their coordination number, correlation times, and the possible formation of polymeric networks in the melt. The composition and structure of a melt, that is, what ions are present and how they interact, dictates the macroscopic properties relevant to reactor operation. Fluoroacidity, or the activity of dissociated fluoride anions, is one metric that may be used to describe the relationship between salt chemistry and structure. Overall, understanding the relationship between molten fluoride salt chemistry and structure enables deeper understanding and, thus, prediction of property changes that may take place throughout a reactor’s lifetime.In this poster, we present cyclic and square wave voltammetry studies of chromium speciation and diffusivity in various molten fluoride salts, connecting results with current understanding of the structure of the melts. Chromium is a thermodynamically favored corrosion product in molten salt systems, and in this study, it serves as a probe ion in different fluoride melts. Chromium trifluoride is added to various fluoride solvents and the diffusion coefficients of its various oxidation states are calculated and interpreted in light of salt structure. Experimental apparatus design and know-how for high-temperature molten salt electrochemistry are also highlighted.
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