Electrolytic Reduction of U₃O₈ and U₃O₈-MoO₃ in CaCl₂-NaCl Molten Salt

Abstract

Electro-deoxidation technology plays an important role in both industrial production and spent fuel reprocessing. In this work, cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, and open circuit chronopotentiometry were applied to study the electrochemical behavior of U3O8 and MoO3 cathode in the CaCl2-NaCl melt at 873 K. The electrolytic reduction of U3O8-MoO3 was conducted at -2.38 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) for 3.8 h, and the reduced production of metallic U and Mo was successfully confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis.