A comparison is made of the chemical properties of liquid lithium and of liquid sodium which are relevant to the use of the liquid metals in fusion and fission reactors. The liquids dissolve both metals and non-metals; the solubility of transition metals is enhanced by the presence of dissolved non-metals, e.g., nitrogen and oxygen, and this is most obvious in the case of lithium contaminated with nitrogen where the enhanced solubility is accompanied by the existence of stable ternary nitrides, e.g., Li3FeN2. The solubilities of selected non-metals, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in the liquid metals are compared, and the fate of salts with polyatomic anions, e.g., NaOH, Li2CO3, is discussed. Chemical reactions are followed in the laboratory, often by pressure and electrical resistivity techniques, and more recently by electrochemical cells. The reactions can be divided arbitrarily into non-metal with non-metal, non-metal with dissolved metal, and non-metal with solid transition metal. Under these headings, the reactions are represented by:-

Reasons are suggested for the different behaviour in lithium and in sodium.

Subject
Chemical compounds, Nitrides, Iron, Solubility, Liquids, Solutions, Electrical resistivity, Nitrogen, Sodium, Metals, Lithium, Carbon, Chemical reactions
© 1982 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1982
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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