Rankin Shum

Molten chloride salts have application in carbon capture and utilization, thermal energy storage, solar and nuclear energy production, liquid metal batteries, critical metal (e.g., Mg, Li) production, and other areas. Although these salts have great potential to aid in climate control as well as the long term energy crisis, there is still significant developmental work required within certain applications. One of the main issues with molten chloride salts is that impurities such as oxygen and moisture have a notable impact on the physical qualities of the salt, such as corrosion, melting point, and viscosity. Furthermore, moisture analysis within molten chloride salt systems is an unproven process with little precedent up to this point. This work explores analytical techniques for quantifying the moisture content in molten chloride salts. Electrochemical techniques, such as cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, and chronoamperometry, are performed to identify and analyze signals relating to hydrogen ions in molten CaCl2. To correlate the hydrogen ion content to electrochemical response, different additions of CaH2 are made within various samples of CaCl2. Electrochemical signals from these experiments are investigated as a possible in-situ method of moisture determination.