About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Materials and Chemistry for Molten Salt Systems
|
| Presentation Title |
Electrochemical Investigations of Molten Chloride Corrosion at the Material–Salt Interface |
| Author(s) |
Benjamin Kash, Bilge Yildiz, Fikile Brushett |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Benjamin Kash |
| Abstract Scope |
Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are distinguished by their use of molten salts in place of traditional coolants, offering superior heat transfer, passive safety, and liquid-fueled designs. However, technological progress has been stifled by rapid corrosion at the material-salt interface. Traditional post-mortem analyses offer limited mechanistic insight and low throughput; thus, this work employs an electrochemical perspective to probe degradation mechanisms and connect salt structure to corrosivity.
Three representative molten chloride eutectics spanning distinct cationic environments were selected: LiCl–KCl, NaCl–MgCl2, and NaCl–AlCl3. Potentiodynamic polarization experiments were performed to construct Evans diagrams and extract corrosion potential (Ecorr) and current density (jcorr) via mixed potential theory. Electrochemical noise measurements were conducted to identify dominant corrosion mechanisms. Comparing these metrics to the eutectic's relative chloroacidity reveals correlations between salt structure, degradation thermodynamics, and principal corrosion modes, thereby providing a mechanistic foundation for how salt chemistry dictates material degradation under MSR-relevant conditions. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Electrometallurgy, Energy Conversion and Storage, Nuclear Materials |