The group of SHI Weihun, a professor at the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed a modified electro-recycling process for the recovery of actinides, namely inode-site anodic deposition (IAP). The study, titled "Anodic Deposition Process for High Separation of Aluminum Alloys," was published online in Nature Communications.
Professor SHI's group has long been engaged in fundamental research on the processing of dry spent nuclear fuel. In order to improve the separation efficiency of actinides compared to lanthanides, a new concept of efficient separation and recovery of actinides based on solid active aluminum cathode has been developed in recent years. However, if the solid aluminum cathode is used for actinide recovery and cannot be used directly in fuel production, the cathode product becomes an aluminum alloy. As a result, further separation of actinides from aluminum is required. Modern separation methods using aluminum alloys are generally more complex and therefore severely limit the practical application of solid cathode aluminum separation technology.
In this study, scientists proposed a new strategy for separation of actinide aluminum alloys based on the different solubilities of target metal chlorides in molten NaAlCl 4 V salt. This method is known as "inodu anodic deposition process". NaAlCl 4 V salt solution was chosen as electrolyte, uranium-aluminum alloy and aluminum rod as anode and cathode, respectively. UCl 3, which is insoluble in the NaAlCl 4 b molten salt, was formed at the anode after anodic oxidation and then deposited as a precipitate at the bottom of the electrochemical cell.
This new method provides a simple and practical way to recover actinides from aluminum alloys, as well as a convenient synthetic method for metal chlorides in low oxidation states.
Source: https://urlzs.com/B8vw2
