A MgMn2O4-Based Solid State Reference Electrode for High-Temperature Molten Salts

Yating Yuan; Juntian Fan; Phillip Halstenberg; Shannon Mark Mahurin; Sheng Dai

doi:10.1149/1945-7111/adcaee

A MgMn₂O₄-Based Solid State Reference Electrode for High-Temperature Molten Salts

Yating Yuan, Juntian Fan, Phillip Halstenberg, Shannon Mark Mahurin, Sheng Dai

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The development of reliable reference electrodes is critical for advancing electrochemical studies in high-temperature molten salts. In this work, the MgMn₂O₄/Mg₂MnO₄ redox couple is utilized as a solid-state reference electrode in the ternary molten salt system MgCl₂-NaCl-KCl. The electrochemical behavior of the MgMn₂O₄/Mg₂MnO₄ redox couple was evaluated via cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry, which revealed a reversible insertion and extraction of Mg in MgMn₂O₄. The MgMn₂O₄ electrode displayed a stable value for 100 h when tested by monitoring the open circuit potential. The electrochemical behavior of Sb₂O₃ was studied in MgCl₂-NaCl-KCl to demonstrate the practical utility of the electrode. Cyclic voltammetry measurements, chronoamperometry, and powder X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the complete reduction of Sb₂O₃ to Sb. These findings show that the MgMn₂O₄/Mg₂MnO₄ system is a promising candidate for stable and reproducible reference electrode for applications in high-temperature molten salt systems.

Original language	English
Article number	043508
Journal	Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Volume	172
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/adcaee
State	Published - Apr 1 2025

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under the Nuclear Energy program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors would like to thank Dr. James L Willit for helpful discussion.

Keywords

electrosynthesis
high temperature materials
molten salts
solid-state ionics

Access to Document

10.1149/1945-7111/adcaee

Cite this

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title = "A MgMn2O4-Based Solid State Reference Electrode for High-Temperature Molten Salts",

abstract = "The development of reliable reference electrodes is critical for advancing electrochemical studies in high-temperature molten salts. In this work, the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 redox couple is utilized as a solid-state reference electrode in the ternary molten salt system MgCl2-NaCl-KCl. The electrochemical behavior of the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 redox couple was evaluated via cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry, which revealed a reversible insertion and extraction of Mg in MgMn2O4. The MgMn2O4 electrode displayed a stable value for 100 h when tested by monitoring the open circuit potential. The electrochemical behavior of Sb2O3 was studied in MgCl2-NaCl-KCl to demonstrate the practical utility of the electrode. Cyclic voltammetry measurements, chronoamperometry, and powder X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the complete reduction of Sb2O3 to Sb. These findings show that the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 system is a promising candidate for stable and reproducible reference electrode for applications in high-temperature molten salt systems.",

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author = "Yating Yuan and Juntian Fan and Phillip Halstenberg and Mahurin, {Shannon Mark} and Sheng Dai",

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AU - Halstenberg, Phillip

AU - Mahurin, Shannon Mark

AU - Dai, Sheng

PY - 2025/4/1

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N2 - The development of reliable reference electrodes is critical for advancing electrochemical studies in high-temperature molten salts. In this work, the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 redox couple is utilized as a solid-state reference electrode in the ternary molten salt system MgCl2-NaCl-KCl. The electrochemical behavior of the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 redox couple was evaluated via cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry, which revealed a reversible insertion and extraction of Mg in MgMn2O4. The MgMn2O4 electrode displayed a stable value for 100 h when tested by monitoring the open circuit potential. The electrochemical behavior of Sb2O3 was studied in MgCl2-NaCl-KCl to demonstrate the practical utility of the electrode. Cyclic voltammetry measurements, chronoamperometry, and powder X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the complete reduction of Sb2O3 to Sb. These findings show that the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 system is a promising candidate for stable and reproducible reference electrode for applications in high-temperature molten salt systems.

AB - The development of reliable reference electrodes is critical for advancing electrochemical studies in high-temperature molten salts. In this work, the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 redox couple is utilized as a solid-state reference electrode in the ternary molten salt system MgCl2-NaCl-KCl. The electrochemical behavior of the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 redox couple was evaluated via cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry, which revealed a reversible insertion and extraction of Mg in MgMn2O4. The MgMn2O4 electrode displayed a stable value for 100 h when tested by monitoring the open circuit potential. The electrochemical behavior of Sb2O3 was studied in MgCl2-NaCl-KCl to demonstrate the practical utility of the electrode. Cyclic voltammetry measurements, chronoamperometry, and powder X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the complete reduction of Sb2O3 to Sb. These findings show that the MgMn2O4/Mg2MnO4 system is a promising candidate for stable and reproducible reference electrode for applications in high-temperature molten salt systems.

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