Determination of the activity coefficient of neodymium in liquid aluminium by potentiometric methods

The activity coefficient of neodymium in liquid aluminium phase has been determined potentiometrically in the temperature range of 973–1073 K. To the author's knowledge, no data on this parameter has been published yet.Three different electrochemical methods have been tested: the cyclic voltammetry technique, the coulometric additions method and the direct use of an Al–Nd alloy. In addition, an experimental set-up has been designed which allows working with small amounts of solvent (30 g). The molten eutectic mixture CaCl2–NaCl (52–48 mol%) has been selected as the electrolyte.From the results obtained, the variation of the activity coefficient of Nd in Al(l) as a function of the temperature can be expressed as follows: log γNd(Al) = 9.81 − 17134/T(K), in the range 973–1073 K. It has been found a good agreement between the activity coefficient values obtained from the different methods tested. Hence, it can be stated that either of the techniques used allows determining reliable values for the activity coefficient.