Molten-salt breeder reactors (MSBR's) are being developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for generating low-cost power while extending the nation's resources of fissionable fuel. The fluid fuel in these reactors, consisting of UF4 and ThF4 dissolved in fluorides of beryllium and lithium, is circulated through a reactor core moderated by graphite. Technology developments over the past 20 y...

High-aspect-ratio single-crystalline KNN nanorods (length ~10-20 μm and diameter ~400 nm) are synthesized using a facile method based on a molten-salt reaction, whose formation mechanism has been revealed. The lead-free piezoelectric nanorods showing high piezoelectric coefficient d*33 up to ~230 pm V(-1) may be used in bio-sensing and energy-harvesting micro-devices.

ZnO nanoparticles were synthesised within the pores of the zeolite ferrierite (FER) by a novel molten salt impregnation method and compared to a traditional wet impregnation method. The structure and optical properties were characterised by powder XRD, photoluminescence and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The XRD results reveal a distinct difference in the effect of the impregnatio...

A personal history of the development of molten-salt reactors in the United States is presented. The initial goal was an aircraft propulsion reactor, and a molten fluoride-fueled Aircraft Reactor Experiment was operated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1954. In 1956, the objective shifted to civilian nuclear power, and reactor concepts were developed using a circulating UF4-ThF4 fuel, graphi...

In a molten-salt solar power tower, liquid salt at 290oC (554oF) is pumped from a ‘cold’ storage tank through the receiver where it is heated to 565oC (1,049oF) and then on to a ‘hot’ tank for storage. When power is needed from the plant, hot salt is pumped to a steam generating system that produces superheated steam for a conventional Rankinecycle turbine/generator system. From the steam gener...

A room-temperature redox molten salt for the study of electron transfers in semisolid media, based on combining bis(cyclopentadienyl)cobalt with oligomeric polyether counterions, [Cp2Co](MePEG350SO3), is reported. The transport properties of the new molten salt can be varied (plasticized) by varying the polyether content. The charge transport rate during voltammetric reduction of the ionically ...