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Synthesis of uranium trichloride salt using ZnCl2

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Abstract

We report a method for preparing uranium trichloride, UCl3, by reacting ZnCl2 with U in a molten LiCl–KCl eutectic salt at 500 °C. Cyclic voltammetry indicated the formation of UCl3 as the reaction proceeded. After 30 h, the reaction was terminated and the final product was confirmed to contain 13.2 wt% UCl3–LiCl–KCl salt by the ICP-OES method.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Korean government (MSIP) (No. 2017M2A8A5015079).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pyroprocess Technology Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daedeok-daero 989-111, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34057, Republic of Korea

    Gha-Young Kim, Tack-Jin Kim, Junhyuk Jang, Hee-Chul Eun & Sung-Jai Lee

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  1. Gha-Young Kim
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  2. Tack-Jin Kim
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  3. Junhyuk Jang
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  4. Hee-Chul Eun
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  5. Sung-Jai Lee
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Correspondence to Gha-Young Kim.

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Kim, GY., Kim, TJ., Jang, J. et al. Synthesis of uranium trichloride salt using ZnCl2. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 318, 2173–2176 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6134-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6134-4

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