Pure and Applied Chemistry

Abstract: An overview is given of transport reactions and corrosion phenomena in metal halide gas discharge lamps filled with a mixture of alkali halides with scandium or rare-earth iodides. The phenomena that are discussed are: (a) pressures of light-emitting species above the molten salt mixture, (b) interaction of the metal halides with the vessel wall, quartz glass as well as polycrystalline alumina, (c) transport processes along the vessel wall giving rise to wall corrosion, and (d) transport to and from the electrodes (i.e., electrode corrosion and wall blackening).