Mixing behavior of rare earth - alkali chlorides probed by XAFS and MD simulation

Okamoto, Yoshihiro  ; Yaita, Tsuyoshi; Shiwaku, Hideaki   ; Matsuura, Haruaki*; Madden, P. A.*

Mixing behavior of rare earth trichlorides (RECl) with LiCl-KCl eutectic melt was studied by using an X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation techniques. We had confirmed that the local structure of pure RECl melt changed corresponding to size of RE ion. On the other hand, it can be concluded that many mixtures show stabilized 6-fold coordination (RECl) structure in diluted compositions. It suggests that molten RECl has a simular local structure in diluted composition.