Reticulated vitreous carbon cathodes for metal ion removal from process streams
Reticulated vitreous carbon cathodes for metal ion removal from process streams
Reticulated vitreous carbon is a material with a high porosity [97%] and high surface area per unit volume [66 cm-1] and hence it is a good cathode material for use in metal ion recovery from aqueous solutions. Reticulated carbon cathodes have been characterised in terms of their mass transport properties by cathodic copper deposition from 0.5 mol dm-3 sodium sulphate, pH 2 solutions using a flow through electrochemical cell. Comparison of the mass transport properties have been derived from current-potential curves and from copper recovery under potentiostatic control using simple batch, batch recycle models and single pass models. Comparison of the various models showed that a simple batch approximation can satisfactorily be used to describe the metal ion decay under mass transport controlled conditions. Copper was recovered from initial cupric ion concentrations of < 10 ppm with good current efficiency, low energy consumption resulting in high space-time yield and high normalised space velocity. The effect of dissolved oxygen, chloride ion and low ionic strength electrolyte on deposition rate, current efficiency and energy consumption were also examined. Reticulated vitreous carbon cathodes were also used for selective and combined removal of metal ions from a metal ion mixture in 0.1 mol dm-3 sodium chloride, pH 7 solutions. Copper, cadmium and zinc ions were removed under potentiostatic control from initial concentrations of < 10 ppm with the effect of pH, cathode potential and possible hydroxide formation being noted. Potentiostatic reduction of cadmium and zinc from acid sulphate and lead from acid nitrate solutions were also examined along with silver ion recovery from thiosulphate based media. Finally, by use of a longer reticulated vitreous carbon cathode operating in a single pass model of operation a fractional conversion of > 99% was achieved. By segmenting this electrode into eight independent cathodes, current distributions over the length of the electrode and fractional conversions per segment were examined.
University of Southampton
Whyte, Ian
84ddbe4a-6ea0-4092-8d38-d4db5c6d31e5
1991
Whyte, Ian
84ddbe4a-6ea0-4092-8d38-d4db5c6d31e5
Whyte, Ian
(1991)
Reticulated vitreous carbon cathodes for metal ion removal from process streams.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Reticulated vitreous carbon is a material with a high porosity [97%] and high surface area per unit volume [66 cm-1] and hence it is a good cathode material for use in metal ion recovery from aqueous solutions. Reticulated carbon cathodes have been characterised in terms of their mass transport properties by cathodic copper deposition from 0.5 mol dm-3 sodium sulphate, pH 2 solutions using a flow through electrochemical cell. Comparison of the mass transport properties have been derived from current-potential curves and from copper recovery under potentiostatic control using simple batch, batch recycle models and single pass models. Comparison of the various models showed that a simple batch approximation can satisfactorily be used to describe the metal ion decay under mass transport controlled conditions. Copper was recovered from initial cupric ion concentrations of < 10 ppm with good current efficiency, low energy consumption resulting in high space-time yield and high normalised space velocity. The effect of dissolved oxygen, chloride ion and low ionic strength electrolyte on deposition rate, current efficiency and energy consumption were also examined. Reticulated vitreous carbon cathodes were also used for selective and combined removal of metal ions from a metal ion mixture in 0.1 mol dm-3 sodium chloride, pH 7 solutions. Copper, cadmium and zinc ions were removed under potentiostatic control from initial concentrations of < 10 ppm with the effect of pH, cathode potential and possible hydroxide formation being noted. Potentiostatic reduction of cadmium and zinc from acid sulphate and lead from acid nitrate solutions were also examined along with silver ion recovery from thiosulphate based media. Finally, by use of a longer reticulated vitreous carbon cathode operating in a single pass model of operation a fractional conversion of > 99% was achieved. By segmenting this electrode into eight independent cathodes, current distributions over the length of the electrode and fractional conversions per segment were examined.
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Published date: 1991
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Local EPrints ID: 460641
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/460641
PURE UUID: d8dab3dc-433a-4307-beb9-7bf711e135f7
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 18:26
Last modified: 23 Jul 2022 00:58
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Author:
Ian Whyte
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