Projects

National

RARE – Interakcia fluoridových taveninových systémov prvkov vzácnych zemín s oxidmi kritických prvkov v kontexte špeciálnych aplikácií
Interaction of fluoride melts of rare earth elements with oxides of critical elements in the context of special applications
Program: SRDA
Project leader: doc. Ing. Boča Miroslav, DrSc.
Annotation: The aim of the research activities of this project is to study the interaction of molten fluorides of selected elements from the group of critical raw materials (defined by the European Raw Materials Initiative) with their oxides, while the systems are consisting of: . "solvents" which may be considered to be some binary fluoride MF or NF2 (M = Li, Na or K; N = Mg or Ca) or selected eutectic mixtures thereof (e.g. (LiF-NaF-KF)eut = FLiNaK, (LiF-CaF2)eut or (NaF-MgF2)eut), . Ln2O3 metal oxides (Ln = La, Ce, Sm, Eu, Nd, Gd), or transition metal oxides used in superalloys (e.g. Cr2O3, Fe2O3, NiO, ZrO2, Nb2O5, Ta2O5), . and the corresponding metal fluorides of the point above (LnF3, MetFx; x = 2-5). Such systems are currently in use or are being developed for their use in key industries such as metal production, energy applications or corrosion protection. The scientific activities of these systems deals with physico-chemical and thermo-chemical analysis of the systems in molten state (in situ), spectral and diffraction analysis of formed phases. The selection of used methods follows the above aims: thermal analysis, density, viscosity, surface tension, wetting and electrical conductivity measurements for the description of physico-chemical properties; simultaneous thermal analysis (TA/DTA/DSC) for the description of thermo-chemical properties and for the description of spectral and diffraction properties the following methods will be used: XRD, XSC, XRF, XPS, IR, NMR. The integral part of the project is the study of corrosion resistance of different construction under interaction with studied melts.
Duration: 1.7.2020 – 30.6.2024
Fázové premeny oxidov kovov v roztavených fluoridových systémoch
Phase changes of metal oxides in fluoride melts
Program: VEGA
Project leader: doc. Ing. Boča Miroslav, DrSc.
Annotation: The project is oriented to the study of dissolution of rare earth metal oxides and metal oxides of elements used in superalloys used in molten fluorides application of the type MF or NF2 (M=Li, Na and K; N=Mg and Ca). The aim is to find an appropriate electrolyte with the maximal metal oxide solubility for electrolytic metal production as well as to find the system with the minimal metal oxide solubility due to the corrosion protection of alloys used as construction materials. Integral part of this research is the formulation of a model for metal oxide dissolution in fluoride melts as well as the analysis of physico-chemical properties (density, viscosity, surface tension, electricalconductivity) and thermochemical properties (phase diagrams, and thermochemical characteristics) of the melts.Analysis of the solidified melts will be done based on spectral and diffraction methods. The selection of studied systems is done based on the context of e.g. transparent ceramic or phase change materials applications.
Duration: 1.1.2020 – 31.12.2023