To facilitate the development of molten salt reactor technologies, a fundamental understanding of the physical and chemical properties of molten salts under the combined conditions of high temperature and intense radiation fields is necessary. Optical spectroscopic (UV–Vis–near IR) and electrochemical techniques are powerful analytical tools to probe molecular structure, speciation, thermodynamics, and kinetics of solution dynamics. Here, we report the design and fabrication of three custom-made apparatus: (i) a multi-port spectroelectrochemical furnace equipped with optical spectroscopic and electrochemical instrumentation, (ii) a high-temperature cell holder for time-resolved optical detection of radiolytic transients in molten salts, and (iii) a miniaturized spectroscopy furnace for the investigation of steady-state electron beam effects on molten salt speciation and composition by optical spectroscopy. Initial results obtained with the spectroelectrochemical furnace (i) and high-temperature cell holder (ii) are reported.
Practical information is provided on electrochemical measurements in molten salt systems. The emphasis is on chloride and fluoride systems, but the principles are applicable to any high-temperature molten salt or molten oxide electrolyte system. Considerations are given to topics such as the functionality of electrochemical measurement equipment, reference electrodes, materials selection and chemical compatibility, interpretation of electrochemical measurement signals, molten salt properties, and laboratory practices.
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