Morphology of lithium droplets electrolytically deposited in LiCl-KCl-Li2O melt

- Surface of electrodeposited liquid Li in LiCl-KCl-Li2O melt was examined
- High-speed digital microscopy used to follow the evolving liquid Li morphology
- Li droplets flattened when colloidal Li is reduced by increasing the Li2O content
- Generation of colloidal Li due to local different sizes of Li droplet deposition

We report the growth of electrochemically deposited liquid lithium droplet in LiCl-KCl-Li2O melt at 673-723 K. To understand the transient behavior of liquid lithium in the electrolyte, the interface between the electrodeposited molten metal phase and the molten salt system was observed in situ using a high-speed digital microscope. We found that the droplets on the electrode are slightly flattened, when the colloidal Li content decreases due to an increasing Li2O content. This mechanism indicates that the heterogeneous distribution of the colloid Li may be due to the local Li solubility in the electrolyte.

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