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Electrochemical Removal of AlCl3 from LiCl-KCl Melts

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Abstract

In order to remove impurity AlCl3 from LiCl-KCl melts before Li electrolysis, the Al3+ reduction potential on a tungsten electrode and the relation between Al3+ reduction peak current and AlCl3 concentration in LiCl-KCl-AlCl3 melts were determined by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Constant potential electrolysis at –1.6 V vs Cl2/Cl– on both solid Fe and liquid Zn cathodes was performed to remove AlCl3 impurity from the LiCl-KCl-AlCl3 melts. The removal rate of Al3+ from the melts was analyzed by both electrochemical methods and inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) analysis. The results showed that 96.11 wt pct of Al were removed on a Fe cathode and 99.90 wt pct on a Zn cathode through 10 hours electrolysis, respectively. While stirring the melts by argon gas, 99.21 wt pct of Al3+ was separated from the melts by 4 hours of electrolysis at 723 K (450 °C), which effectively expedited the Al3+ electrochemical reduction rate and shortened the electrolysis time.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the 863 projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2009AA06Z102), the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 50934001), and the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 51054004); we also appreciate the support of the Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Ministry of Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Research Center for Integrated utilization of Salt Lake Resource, East China University of Science of Technology, Shanghai, 200237, People’s Republic of China

    M. Shen (Postdoctoral Student), B. Li (Professor), S. Z. Li (M.A.Sc Student) & J. G. Yu (Professor)

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  1. M. Shen
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  2. B. Li
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  3. S. Z. Li
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  4. J. G. Yu
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Correspondence to B. Li.

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Manuscript submitted September 5, 2010.

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Shen, M., Li, B., Li, S.Z. et al. Electrochemical Removal of AlCl3 from LiCl-KCl Melts. Metall Mater Trans A 43, 1662–1669 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-011-0982-7

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