Thermodynamics, solubility and the separation of uranium from cerium in molten In/3LiCl-2KCl system

The purpose of this work is to study the electrochemical behavior of uranium and cerium in fused In/3LiCl-2KCl system in the temperature range of 723-823 K by open-circuit potentiometry. The apparent electrode potential of Ce3+/Ce (U4+/U) couples and apparent standard potential of Ce-In (U-In) alloys vs AgCl/Ag reference electrode were established. The principal thermodynamic properties, activity and solubility of cerium and uranium were determined. The separation factor of uranium/cerium couple on liquid indium electrode was calculated. The experimental results have been shown that a lower temperature should be more effective for the separation uranium from cerium.