Applying ellipsometry to studying the effect of two kinds of rare earth metal salts on anodizing aluminum alloy

The effects of rare earth metal salts (REMs), cerium(IV) salt and lanthanum (III) salt, on the property of anodized coating of LD10 aluminum alloy are studied by corrosion tests including neutral salt spray test and copper accelerated acetic acid immersion test, polarization curves measurement, energy dispersion analyzer of X-Ray(EDAX) analysis, and in situ ellipsometry. The results show that the addition of either of the two REMs in anodizing solution hardly changes the composition of an anodized coating, while increases the thickness of barrier part and reduces the porosity of porous part, which contributed to the improvement of the corrosion resistance of the anodized coating. The results also demonstrate that the effect of cerium salt was better than that of lanthanum salt.

Effect of roasting activation of rare earth molten salt slag on extraction of rare earth,lithium and fluorine

A new process was proposed to extract rare earth elements(REEs),Li and F from electrolytic slag of rare earth molten salt by synergistic roasting and acid leaching.Firstly,the thermodynamic analysis of roasting reaction was carried out,then the effects of roasting factors on leaching REEs,Li and F in slag were investigated.In additions,the mineral phase and morphology of molten salt slag,roasting slag and acid leaching slag were characterized,and the migration mechanism of REES,Li and F minerals in roasting and leaching process was analyzed.The results show that the synergistic roasting and activation of molten salt slag by CaO and Al_(2)(SO_(4))_(3)are thermodynamically feasible.The optimum roasting conditions are as follows:molten salt slag of 20 g,Al_(2)(SO_(4))_(3)of 31.25 g and CaO of 6.25 g,roasting temperature of 1173.15 K and reaction time of 2 h,under this condition,the leaching rates of Nd,Pr,Gd,Li and F are 92.47%,91.56%,91.08%,96.69%and 96.8%,respectively.X-ray powder diffraction(XRD)and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(SEM-EDS)analysis show that the rare earth fluoride(REF3)in molten salt slag transforms into soluble rare earth oxide(REO)after roasting and activation.After leaching,the leaching residue is mainly strip CaSO4,indicating that REES,Li and F can be fully extracted from molten salt slag.

E-pO^(2–) diagram for rare earth elements in molten salt

Electro-reduction of spent nuclear oxide fuels in molten salt was the key step of pyroprocessing for oxide fuel treatment. In the present study, the E-pO^2- diagram for rare earth elements in molten Li Cl-KCl at 450 oC were developed based available experimental data. E-pO^2- diagrams could show the stability of each chemical compound in the salt, and therefore, the diagrams could be applied to predict experimental conditions for electro-reduction of spent nuclear fuel efficiently. Compared with the available E-pO^2-diagrams, the present study concerned the activity coefficient of the element studied in the molten salt in all reactions, which made the diagram be more reliable and accurate.

Fabrication of a novel Mg-RE(Nd,Ce) intermetallic compound coating by molten salt diffusion and its effect on corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys

A novel Mg-rare earth （Nd, Ce） coating containing intermetallic compound was fabricated on the surface of the AZ91D magnesium alloy by bathing the sample in a NaC1-KC1-LiC1-NdC13-CeC13 molten salt. The cross-sectional morphology, microstructure and phase composition of the coating were investigated by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）. The corrosion resistance was characterized by the potentiodynamic polariza- tion curves. The SEM observation indicated that a continuous and compact diffusion coating was obtained on the surface of SMATed AZ91D magnesium alloy and the XRD and TEM investigations revealed that the new phases were Al2Ce and A12Nd intermetallic. The potentiodynamic polarization curves showed that the Mg-RE coating improved the corrosion resistance of the AZ91D magnesium alloy, and the corrosion current density of the coated sample was about 1510 mA/cm2 lower than the uncoated sample.

Cathodic reduction process of Al-Cu-Y alloy in fluoride-oxide eutectic system via molten salt electrolysis

Al-Cu-Y alloys were prepared by molten salt electrolysis in fluoride-oxide system composed of electrolyte（Na3 AlF6-AlF3-LiF-MgF2） and oxide（Al2 O3-CuO-Y2 O3）. Cathodic reduction process of Al2 O3,CuO and Y2 O3 were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Components and phase composition of alloy samples prepared by potentiostatic electrolysis were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results show that the Al-Cu-Y alloy can be prepared in the AIF3-NaF-5 wt%LiF-5 wt%MgF2（NaF/AlF3 = 2.2, molecular ratio） eutectic system with mixed oxide（Al2 O3-CuO-Y2 O3） through 2 h at the conditions of a temperature of 1208 K, cell voltage3.0 V, cathode current density 0.7 A/cm^2. Al（Ⅲ） and Cu（Ⅱ） ions can be reduced to zero valence Al（0） and Cu（0） directly on carbonaceous electrode surface by instantaneous nucleation, respectively, the reduction process is controlled by diffusion. The reduction potential of Y（Ⅲ） ions is close to the active ions of fluoride melts, but strengthened phase AI3 Y can be formed through electrochemical reduction and alloyed process with active Al（Ⅲ） and Cu（Ⅱ） ions, meanwhile, the Al2 Cu and Al3 Y phases are distributed at the grain boundary of Al matrix.

Preparation and properties of Al-Mn alloy coatings in NaCl-KCl-AlCl_3-CeCl_3 molten salts

Al-Mn alloy coatings were electrodeposited on an iron substrate from AlCl3-NaCl-KCl molten salts with anhydrous MnCl2 enhanced by the addition of CeCl3. The microstructure and properties of the Al-Mn alloy coatings were investigated, and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and polarization curves were used to determine the composition, surface morphology, phase structure, and corrosion resistance of the obtained deposits. The results showed that the surface coatings were smooth, and that the crystallites were dense and uniform when 0.22 wt.% CeCl3 was added to the molten salt. An amorphous mixture of Al and Al6Mn was obtained. CeCl3 enhanced the corrosion resistance and increased the hardness of the single amorphous phase alloys. The pitting potential of the coating was approximately -1.1239 V, and its hardness was 390 kgf/mm2.

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 ℃.

Molten salt synthesis and luminescent properties of YVO_4:Eu nanocrystalline phosphors

YVO4：Eu nanocrystalline phosphors were successfully prepared at 400 oC in equal moles of NaNO3 and KNO3 molten salts. NaOH concentration and annealing temperature played important roles in phase purity and crystallinity of the nanocrystallines, and the optimum NaOH concentration and annealing temperature were 6：40 and 400 oC, respectively. The nanocrystallines were well crystallized with a cubic morphology in an average grain size of 18 nm. Upon excitation of the vanadate groups at 314 nm, YVO4：Eu nanocrystallines exhibited the characteristic emission of Eu3＋, which indicated that there was an energy transfer from vanadate groups to Eu3＋. Moreover, the influence of superficial effect, especially the dangling bonds on the structure and luminescent properties of the nanocrystallines was discussed in detail.