An Electrochemical Study of Divalent Ytterbium Species in NaCl–KCl and NaCl–KCl–Cscl Based Melts
Authors: Tropin Oleg A. , Volkovich Vladimir A. , Golovanova Olga A. 
Published: February 2020

A usual oxidation state of rare earth metals in chloride melts is +3. A number of lanthanides (particularly europium, ytterbium, samarium, and thulium) can also form thermodynamically stable ions in the oxidation state +2. Ln(II)/Ln(III) redox processes are normally investigated employing transient electrochemical techniques where the formation of Ln(II) ions is limited to the near electrode surface layer. The present work was aimed at studying the reduction of Yb(III) ions in the bulk of the melt and assessing the stability of Yb(II) chloro species in molten chloride media. The experiments were carried out in the melts based on NaCl–KCl–CsCl eutectic and NaCl–KCl equimolar mixtures at 550–850 and 700–850 oC, respectively, employing stationary and transient electrochemistry and high temperature spectroscopy methods. Concentration of ytterbium in the melt was varied from 1 to 10 wt. %. Ytterbium(II)/(III) formal standard redox potentials were obtained from the results of electrochemistry measurements (cyclic voltammetry and potentiometry). Electronic absorption spectra of Yb(II) species were recorded both in molten and quenched electrolytes.

Reduction of Yb(III) to Yb(II) can be achieved by shifting the equilibrium of the reaction

YbCl6
3– + Cl– ↔ YbCl6
4– + ½ Cl2

to the right by lowering partial pressure of chlorine in the atmosphere above the melt. Here, zirconium, as a metal with high affinity for chlorine, was used as a getter. The reduction process was followed by measuring the absorption spectra. As the reaction proceeded, the color of the melt changed from colorless of YbCl6
3– to brown. Analysis of the resulting melts showed that the mean oxidation state of ytterbium was below three, the value depended on temperature, duration of the reduction and melt composition. Increasing temperature or reduction time expectedly resulted in a greater degree of reduction.

Ytterbium(III) can also be reduced with a suitable reductant and hydrogen was chosen here as an example. Sparging the melt containing Yb(III) ions with hydrogen resulted in decreasing mean oxidation state of ytterbium:

YbCl6
3– + Cl– + ½ H2 ↔ YbCl6
4- + HCl.

The course of the reduction process was followed by measuring the redox potential. The efficiency of hydrogen as a reducing agent was comparable to the thermal decomposition in the presence of zirconium getter. Hydrogen reduction was also a very convenient way of preparing the melts with a low Yb(II) content for spectroscopy measurements.

Another way of reducing Yb(III) to Yb(II) is electrolysis:

YbCl6
3– + e– ↔ YbCl6
4-.

In a series of preliminary experiments Yb(II)/Yb(III) redox potentials were determined from the results of cyclic voltammetry measurements. Reduction of Yb(III) to Yb(II) was carried out by potentiostatic electrolysis under an inert (argon) or a reducing (hydrogen) atmosphere with and without agitating the melt. The lowest mean oxidation state of ytterbium in the melt thus obtained was 2.33 showing that two thirds of Yb(III) could be reduced to Yb(II).

Acknowledgement. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (project No. 4.5062.2017/8.9).