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Effect of electrolyte characteristics on electrowinning of copper powder

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Abstract

This paper is concerned with studying the effect of electrolyte characteristics on the production process of electrolytic copper powder from partially depleted Cu containing synthetic electrolytes by electrowinning technique. The main electrolyte characteristics are temperature, circulation rate, Cu and H2SO4 concentrations, residence time in the cell, and utilization of organic bath additives. The process is positively affected by increasing the values of all of the studied parameters except for the addition of organic bath additives, which causes a negative effect. However addition of organic bath additives remarkably increases the degree of refinement of the produced powders. In most cases pure and fine copper powders were obtained with a dendritic shape, as indicated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis.

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Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express his gratitude to all staff members of the Institute of Nonferrous Metallurgy, Montan University Leoben, Austria, for their assistance and help in carrying out the experimental work. Many thanks are also due to The Austrian Exchange Service (OeAD), Austria and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Egypt, for financing the accommodation and living in the period of research.

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  1. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department, Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Suez Canal University, Suez, Egypt

    Ashour Owais

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  1. Ashour Owais
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Correspondence to Ashour Owais.

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Owais, A. Effect of electrolyte characteristics on electrowinning of copper powder. J Appl Electrochem 39, 1587–1595 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-009-9845-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-009-9845-y

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