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The corrosion resistance of Ni anode and Ga electrowinning in alkaline sulfide solutions

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Abstract

In this paper, a nickel anode was used for Ga electrowinning in the presence of S2− ions. The corrosion resistances of nickel and stainless steel electrodes in alkaline solutions of S2− were studied by cyclic voltammetry, XPS, and weight loss measurements. Ga electrowinning was carried out in Ga solutions with high concentrations of S2− at different current densities and NaOH concentrations. The results indicated that the nickel anode showed better corrosion resistance than the stainless steel anode. The corrosion rate of nickel was much lower than that of stainless steel due to the formation of stable passive films consisting of Ni oxide and hydroxide. The corrosion rate of the nickel anode was only 0.28 mg cm−2 after 48 h electrowinning in the presence of 5 g L−1 S2− ions. The corrosion resistance of the nickel anode was almost independent of the NaOH concentration and the current density. When the nickel anode was used for Ga electrowinning, the current efficiency (QE) decreased in the presence of S2− owing to the reduction of the incomplete oxidation products of S2− on the cathode. The complete oxidation of S2− to SO4 2− was accelerated on the nickel anode, which lowered the concentrations of S2− and that of its incomplete oxidation products in solution. Bright, high-purity metallic gallium was obtained when using the nickel anode, even in Ga(III) solutions of 5 g L−1 S2−. Therefore, nickel was a suitable anode material for Ga electrowinning in Ga solutions of S2− ions.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (51422405, 51374192), the National Basic Research and Development Program of China (2013CB632606), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (2015036).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Hydrometallurgical Cleaner Production Technology, Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People’s Republic of China

    Ling Liu, Mingyong Wang, Zhi Wang & Yi Zhang

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Ling Liu

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  1. Ling Liu
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  2. Mingyong Wang
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  3. Zhi Wang
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  4. Yi Zhang
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Correspondence to Mingyong Wang or Zhi Wang.

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Liu, L., Wang, M., Wang, Z. et al. The corrosion resistance of Ni anode and Ga electrowinning in alkaline sulfide solutions. J Appl Electrochem 45, 1255–1263 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-015-0885-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-015-0885-1

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