Identification of ions present in LiF-DyF_3 melts and the mechanism of Dy_2O_3 dissolution therein

Herein, the present paper were attempted to identify ions in LiF-DyF_3 melts according to the law of decreasing primary crystallization temperature and model analysis. Specifically.the primary crystallization temperatures of LiF-DyF_3 and LiF-DyF_3-Dy_2O_3 melts with various DyF_3 and Dy_2O_3 contents were determined by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), and reactions occurring in the above melts were investigated using ideal dilute solution(Temkin and Flood) models. Moreover, crystal phases produced by rapid solidification of LiF-DyF_3, LiF-Dy_2O_3, DyF_3-Dy_2O_3, and LiF-DyF_3-Dy_2O_3 melts were identified by X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis. The primary crystallization temperature of LiF-DyF_3 melts exhibits an approximately linear decrease with increasing molar fraction of DyF_3, and the general formula of complex ions in these melts is expressed as DyF_x^((3-x)),e.g., DyF_4^-. Finally, we investigated the dissolution of Dy_2O_3 in LiF-DyF_3 melts, showing that it was chemical in nature and afforded Dy_(1+x)O_(3x)F_(3-3x) and DyOF.

Electrochemical behavior of dysprosium(Ⅲ) in eutectic LiF-DyF3 at tungsten and copper electrodes

Electrochemical behavior of dysprosium(Dy)ions in LiF-DyF3(24 mol%)was investigated by cyclic voltammetry,chronoamperometry and chronopotentiometry.Dy-Cu alloy samples were prepared by constant-potential electrolysis in LiF-DyF3(24 mol%)at the Cu electrode.The Cu5 Dy and Cu phases were characterized by an X-ray diffractometer and a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer.The results show that the reduction of Dy(Ⅲ)ions in a LiF-DyF3(24 mol%)molten salt system is found to be a quasi-reversible diffusion-controlled process which occurs via a onestep reaction involving the transfer of three electrons.The electro-crystallization processes of the Dy metal at the W electrode and the mode of nucleation confirm that progressive nucleation is dominant at high concentrations of Dy ions in the LiF-DyF3 salt.At lower concentrations,the instantaneous nucleation of Dy with three-dimensional growth of the nuclei is dominant.

Density of Na3AIF6-AIF3-LiF-MgF2-Al2O3-Sm2O3 molten salt melt for Al-Sm alloy

Samarium（Sm） has been widely used in making aluminum（Al）-Sm magnet alloy materials. The research team for this study developed a molten salt electrolyte system which directly produces AI-Sm alloy to replace the energy intensive conventional distillation technology. In this study, molten melt density was measured and operation conditions were optimized to separate AI-Sm alloy product from the fluoride molten melt electrolysis media based on density differences, Archimedes＇ principle was applied to measure density for the basic molten fluoride system（BMFS： Na_3 AlF_6-AlF_3-LiF-MgF_2）electrolysis media in the temperature range from 905 to 1055 ℃.The impact of temperature（t） and the Al_2O_3 and Sm_2O_3 addition ratio（w_（（Al2O3））,w_（（Sm2O3）） in the basic fluoride system on molten melt density was examined. The fluoride molten melt density relationship was determined to be：ρ=3.11701-0.00802 w_（（Al2O3））＋0.027825 w_（（Sm2O3））-0.00117 t. The test results showed that molten density decreases with increase in temperature and Al_2O_3 addition ratio, and increases with the addition of Sm_2O_3, and/or Al_2O_3＋Sm_2O_3. The separation of Al-Sm（density 2.3 g/cm^3） product melt from the BMFS melt is achieved by controlling the BMFS density to less than 2.0 g/cm3. It is concluded that the optimal operation conditions to control the BMFS molten salt density to less than 2.0 g/cm^3 are：maintain addition of Al_2O_3＋Sm_2 O_3（w_（（Al2O3））＋w_（（Sm2O3））〈9% of Na_3AlF_6,Al_2O_3/Sm_2O_3 ratio（w_（（Al2O3））：w_（（Sm2O3）））〉 7：3, and temperature between 965 and 995 ℃.