Electrochemical extraction of ytterbium from LiCl-KCl-YbCl3-ZnCl2 melt by forming Zn-Yb alloys

The electrochemical behavior of Yb(III) was studied at a W electrode in LiCl-KCl-ZnCl2 molten salt system. Cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, open circuit chronopotentiometry, and chronopotentiometry were used to investigate the electrochemical co-deposition of Yb(III) and Zn(II) in LiCl-KCl melt. Extraction efficiency of Yb(III) from LiCl-KCl-ZnCl2 melt was calculated to be 99.49% after potentiostatic electrolysis for 40 h. Zn-Yb alloys were prepared by galvanostatic electrolysis through co-deposition of Zn(II) and Yb(III) for 3 h. XRD and SEM-EDS were used to analyze the components and morphology. YbZn2 intermetallic compound is the most stable product under the experimental electrolysis conditions.