Precipitation of Rare Earth Compounds in LiCl ‐ KCl Eutectic

Abstract

The 3:1 compounds of and , precipitate from the eutectic melt containing trivalent rare earth species, RE(III), at 723 K. In the presence of O2−, and/or precipitate from the melt. In the case of Gd, the formation of and strongly depends on O2− ion concentration in the melt. Only precipitates selectively from the melt while precipitates selectively when . The relative stability of against , thermodynamically evaluated for the same melt condition, shows is preferentially formed for light earths while the formation of is dominant for heavy earths.