A study was made of the electrochemical properties of Th chloride ions, dissolved in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic, at 693 to 823K. Cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry and chronoamperometry were used to investigate the reduction mechanism on a tungsten electrode, and the diffusion coefficient of dissolved Th ions. All of the techniques showed that only one valence state was stable in the melt. The reduction to Th metal was found to occur according to a one-step mechanism, via a nucleation-controlled process which required an overpotential of several 100mV. At 723K, the diffusion coefficient was 3.15 x 10-5cm2/s.

Electrochemistry of Thorium in LiCl-KCl Eutectic Melts. L.Cassayre, J.Serp, P.Soucek, R.Malmbeck, J.Rebizant, J.P.Glatz: Electrochimica Acta, 2007, 52[26], 7432-7