Electrical Conductivity of ZrCl₄ Solutions in Molten LiCl–KCl Eutectic Mixture

The electrical conductivity of (LiCl–KCl)_eut–ZrCl₄ molten mixtures has been studied for the first time as a function of ZrCl₄ concentrations (0–30 mol %) with the increment of ~5 mol % in a wide temperature range (764–1075 K). A conductometric cell of an original construction has been used. The electrical conductivity of these mixtures ranges from 0.9 to 2.8 S/cm. An increase in the temperature was found to increase the electrical conductivity, whereas an increase in the ZrCl₄ concentration was found to decrease the electrical conductivity of the melt. Our new results on the electrical conductivity are compared with those previously obtained for other zirconium-containing molten systems and discussed on the basis of the available data on the structure of such melts. For the first time, the liquidus line was constructed for the (LiCl–KCl)_eut–ZrCl₄ quasi-binary system at the concentrations of zirconium tetrachloride up to 30 mol %.