The inhibition of hydrogen formation during cementation of cobalt onto zinc

在锌电积之前使用锌粉置换法从硫酸锌溶液中除去痕量杂质是标准的工业技术。 该工艺包括在活化剂的存在下，将细碎的锌粉搅拌到不纯的锌溶液中，以将溶液中的关键杂质去除到十亿分之一的水平。 该技术可实现锌电解提取的高电流效率。 锌粉的使用是低效的，因为锌粉必须通过熔化和水雾化在精炼厂生产的一些阴极锌产品来获得。锌粉低效的关键模式是通过与水和酸反应形成氢气。本研究的目的是探讨使用氢抑制控制氢的形成过程中的锌粉渗碳。无机和有机抑制剂将被调查。研究的三个步骤包括文献检索、抑制剂对氢生成速率的作用的电化学调查和最后的抑制剂胶结作用的研究。 该项目将允许培训一名硕士生和两名本科生助理。

The use of zinc dust cementation for removal of trace impurities from zinc sulphate solution prior to zinc electrowinning is the standard industrial technology. The process involves stirring finely divided zinc dust into the impure zinc solution, in the presence of activators, in order to remove key impurities to the part per billion level in solution. This technology enables high current efficiency in zinc electrowinning. The use of zinc dust is inefficient as zinc dust must be obtained by melting and water atomizing some of the cathode zinc product produced at the refinery. The key mode of zinc dust inefficiency is the formation of hydrogen gas via reaction with water and acid. The objective of this research is to investigate the use of hydrogen inhibition to control the formation of hydrogen during zinc dust cementation. Both inorganic and organic inibitors will be investigated. The three steps in the study include a literature search, an electrochemical investigation of the role of inhibitors on the hydrogen generation rate and finally a study of cementation with inhibitors. The project will allow for training of one Masters student and two undergraduate student assistants.