Corrosion behaviour of carbon materials exposed to molten lithium chloride–potassium chloride salt

The corrosion behaviour of four carbon materials namely low density graphite, high density graphite, glassy carbon and pyrolytic graphite were investigated in molten LiCl–KCl electrolyte medium at 600 °C for 2000 h under high pure argon atmosphere. Structural and microstructural changes in the carbon materials after exposure to molten chloride salt were investigated from the weight change and using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction and laser Raman spectroscopic techniques. Microstructural analysis of the samples revealed the poor corrosion resistance of high density and low density graphite and severe attack was observed at several places on the surface. On the other hand, glassy carbon and pyrolytic graphite were relatively inert, while pyrolytic graphite showed the best corrosion resistance to molten salt attack. In the order of increasing corrosion resistance to molten salt, the carbon materials were found to follow the sequence: low density graphite < high density graphite < glassy carbon < pyrolytic graphite.