Corrosion of nickel in molten LiCl–Li2O at 750 °C

Abstract Corrosion of the reduction vessel induced by molten LiCl–Li2O is an important problem in the lithium reduction technique for the spent nuclear fuel management. This study investigates the corrosion of nickel in molten LiCl–10 wt% Li2O at 750 °C by immersion experiments, with the aim of unraveling the corrosion behavior. Nickel corrodes very fast in the melt, forming a layer of NiO, which is converted to Li2Ni8O10 and then to LiNiO2. The weight loss curve shows a linear rate law, which is owing to the harmful reaction between oxides and melt at the melt/scale boundary with the formation of the porous corrosion scale. The corrosion mechanism of nickel is also discussed.