[en] 1-Alkyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride-LiCl melts were prepared from the reaction of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([RMIm]Cl; R=allyl or n-butyl) and lithium chloride, and their ability to dissolve cellulose was evaluated. The solubility of cellulose was greatly increased to 320% when [RMIm]Cl was replaced by [RMIm][LiCl₂]. Dissolved cellulose in LiCl/[RMIm]Cl melts was successfully regenerated by adding water and LiCl/[RMIm]Cl melts were easily recovered by removing water. As supported by the computational results, the higher solubility of cellulose in [RMIm][LiCl₂] can be ascribed to the increased bond distance between anion and C(2)-H of the imidazolium ring compared with that in [RMIm]Cl, thereby resulting in the increased interaction between [LiCl₂]^- and the hydroxyl groups of cellulose

[en] The results of research carried out to obtain lithium chloride, as a suitable electrolyte for the production of high purity lithium metal are presented. Concentrated lithium chloride brines from Salar de Atacama have been used as starting materials. The studied process requires the reduction of the boron content in the brines to levels below 5 ppm, followed by a crystallization process to obtain a crystallized lithium chloride. The elimination of the magnesium chloride co-crystallized with the lithium chloride, is achieved by a complementary washing step and the lixiviation of the impure LiCl crystals with ethanol. (author)

[en] Uranium being an essential component of molten salt nuclear fuel, basic thermochemical data such as formal potentials, diffusion coefficients, redox mechanism, rate constant, impedance etc. of U4+ ions in molten salts is important. As a part of the study being carried out for the possible separation of U and Th in molten salt spent fuels, using voltammetric techniques, in the present study, Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), chronopotentiometry (CP) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopic (EIS) analysis of UF₄ were carried out in LKE (LiCI-KCl eutectic) to obtain the desired electrochemical parameters

[en] A pyrometallurgical partitioning technology to recover uranium from an uranium-TRU mixture which is the product material of electroreduction system is being developed at KAERI since 1997. In the process, the reactor of an electrorefiner consists of the electrodes and the molten chloride salt which is LiCl-KCl-UCl₃. The role of uranium chloride salt (UCl₃) is to stabilize the initial cell voltage between electrodes in the electrorefining reactor. The process to produce a uranium chloride salt includes two steps: a reaction process of gaseous chlorine with liquid cadmium to form the CdCl₂ occurring in a Cd layer, followed by a process to produce UCl₃ by the reaction of U in the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt and CdCl₂. The apparatus for producing UCl₃ consists of a chlorine gas generator, a chlorinator, and a off-gas wet scrubber. The temperature of the reactants are maintained at about 600 .deg. C . After the reaction is completed, the product salt is transferred from the vessel to the electrorefiner by a transfer system

[en] Uranium trichloride salt(UCl₃) is supplied with the initial U in to the LiCl-KCl eutectic salt for a stabilization of the initial cell voltage during an electrorefining process in a reactor. The apparatus for producing UCl₃ consists of a chlorine gas generator, a chlorinator, and an off-gas wet scrubber. Gaseous chlorine in the chlorine gas generator was injected into a lower layer of liquid Cd where CdCl₂ formed. The CdCl₂ reacts with the uranium to form uranium trichloride and Cd. The throughput of the UCl₃ chlorinator is about. 1.4Kg UCl₃/batch. During a production the temperature of the reactants are maintained at about 600 .deg. C

No abstract available

[en] To better understand the role of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway in cartilage development, we adenovirally expressed a constitutively active (Canada) or a dominant negative (dn) form of lymphoid enhancer factor-1 (LEF-1), the main nuclear effector of the pathway, in undifferentiated mesenchymal cells, chondrogenic cells, and primary chondrocytes, and examined the expression of markers for chondrogenic differentiation and hypertrophy. caLEF-1 and LiCl, an activator of the canonical pathway, promoted both chondrogenic differentiation and hypertrophy, whereas dnLEF-1 and the gene silencing of β-catenin suppressed LiCl-promoted effects. To investigate whether these effects were dependent on Sox9, a master regulator of cartilage development, we stimulated Sox9-deficient ES cells with the pathway. caLEF-1 and LiCl promoted both chondrogenic differentiation and hypertrophy in wild-type, but not in Sox9-deficient, cells. The response of Sox9-deficient cells was restored by the adenoviral expression of Sox9. Thus, the canonical Wnt signaling pathway promotes chondrocyte differentiation in a Sox9-dependent manner

[en] LiCI-KCl eutectic is used as liquid electrolyte medium in the pyrochemical reprocessing of metallic fuel. In this process spent metallic fuel is dissolved in molten salt and fuel elements are selectively electrodeposited leaving the fission products in the molten salt medium. Gadolinium is one the rare earth fission product. In order to understand the interaction of GdCb with LiCI-KCl melt, investigation of LiCI-KCI-GdCb ternary phase diagram is essential. In this context, ternary phase diagram of LiCI-KCl-GdCl₃ has been investigated by differential thermal analysis (DTA) technique

[en] Research highlights: → Cyclin D1 transcription is directly activated by β-catenin; however, β-catenin-induced cyclin D1 transcription is reduced by NF-κB p65. → Protein-protein interaction between NF-κB p65 and β-catenin might be responsible for p65-mediated repression of cyclin D1. → One of five putative binding sites, located further upstream of other sites, is the major β-catenin binding site in the cyclin D1 promoter. → NF-κB binding site in cyclin D1 is occupied not only by p65 but also by β-catenin, which is dynamically regulated by the signal. -- Abstract: Signaling crosstalk between the β-catenin and NF-κB pathways represents a functional network. To test whether the crosstalk also occurs on their common target genes, the cyclin D1 promoter was used as a model because it contains binding sites for both proteins. β-catenin activated transcription from the cyclin D1 promoter, while co-expression of NF-κB p65 reduced β-catenin-induced transcription. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed lithium chloride-induced binding of β-catenin on one of the T-cell activating factor binding sites. More interestingly, β-catenin binding was greatly reduced by NF-κB p65, possibly by the protein-protein interaction between the two proteins. Such a dynamic and complex binding of β-catenin and NF-κB on promoters might contribute to the regulated expression of their target genes.

[en] The electrochemical behavior of Nd₂O₃-La₂O₃-NiO mixed oxide including rare earth resources has been studied to synthesize La_0.5Nd_0.5Ni₅ alloy in a LiCl molten salt. The Nd₂O₃-La₂O₃-NiO mixed oxide was converted to NiNd₂O₄ (spinel) and LaNiO₃ (perovskite) structures at a sintering temperature of 1100 .deg. C. The spinel and perovskite structures led a speed-up in the electrolytic reduction of the mixed oxide. Various reaction intermediates such as Ni, NiLa₂O₄ were observed during the electrochemical reduction by XRD analysis. A possible reaction route to La_0.5Nd_0.5Ni₅ in the LiCl molten salt was proposed based on the analysis result