The synthesis of a novel first stage GIC containing simultaneously lithium, potassium and barium through a solid–liquid reaction by molten salts method is described. Such a route has been largely developed in our laboratory for intercalation of metals into graphite. The interplanar distance of this quaternary compound reaches 950 pm and exhibits poly-layered intercalated sheets defined by X-ray measurements. The Li0.2K0.75Ba0.6C6 chemical formula of the compound is determined by ion beam analysis and this GIC is remarkably homogeneous. This GIC is the first poly-layered one containing barium.

A study on the corrosion behavior of Inconel alloys and Incoloy 800H in molten salt of LiCl-Li2O was investigated at 650˚C for 24-312 hours in an oxidation atmosphere. The order of the corrosion rate was Inconel 600< Inconel 601< Incoloy 800H< Inconel 690. Inconel 600 showed the best performance suggesting that the content of Fe, Cr and Ni are the important factor for corrosion resistance in hot molten salt oxidation conditions. The corrosion products of Inconel 600 and Inconel 601 were Cr2O3 and NiFe2O4, In case of Inconel 690, a single layer of Cr2O3 was formed in the early stage of corrosion and an outer layer of NiFe2O4 and inner layer of Cr2O3 were formed with an increase of corrosion time. In the case of Incoloy 800H, Cr2O3 and FeCr2O4 were observed. Most of the outer scale of the alloys was observed to be spalled from the results of the SEM analysis and the unspalled scale which adhered to the substrate was composed of three layers. The outer layer, the middle one, and the inner one were Fe, Cr, and Ni-rich, respectively. Inconel 600 showed localized corrosion behavior and Inconel 601, 690 and Incoloy 800H showed uniform corrosion behavior. Ni improves the corrosion resistance and too much Cr and/or Fe content deteriorates the corrosion resistance.

The electrolytic reduction of a spent oxide fuel involves liberation of the oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which is a chemically aggressive environment that is too crosive for typical structural materials. Therefore, it is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment for handling a molten salt. In this study, the corrosion behavior of pyro-carbon made by CVD was investigated in a molten LiCl-Li2O salt under an oxidation atmosphere at 650˚C and 750˚C for 72 hours. Pyro-carbon showed no chemical reactions with the molten salt because of its low wettability between pyro-carbon and the molten salt. As a result of XRD analysis, pyro-carbon exposed to the molten salt showed pure graphite after corrosion tests. As a result of TGA, whereas the coated layer by CVD showed high anti-oxidation, the non-coated layer showed relatively low anti-oxidation. The stable phases in the reactions were C(S), Li2CO3(S), LiCl(l), Li2O at 650˚C and C(S), LiCl(l), Li2O(S) at 750˚C. Li2CO(S) was decomposed at 750˚C into Li2O(S) and CO2(g).