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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter January 11, 2019

Lead-silver anode behavior for zinc electrowinning in sulfuric acid solution

  • Wei Zhang

    Wei Zhang has 31 years experience in electrochemical behavior and corrosion-related research. He has in-depth knowledge of corrosion science and corrosion engineering, including technologies for corrosion mitigation, and scientific techniques for corrosion research. Also, he has a solid background in materials science and engineering, and a variety of materials processing technologies. He got his Master’s and PhD degrees from the University Laval in 2005 and 2010, respectively.

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    , Sanae Haskouri , Georges Houlachi and Edward Ghali
From the journal Corrosion Reviews

Abstract

In recent years, a renewed interest in studying the electrochemical corrosion behavior of lead anodes during zinc electrowinning is probably due to the particularly high sulfuric acid concentrations in zinc electrolyte where lead alloy anodes have high cell voltage and high corrosion rate of lead. The high corrosion rate of lead alloy resulted in Pb contamination on zinc deposit. In zinc electrometallurgy, the electrolyte from a zinc-rich ore contains a significant amount of Mn2+. Mn2+ in the zinc electrolyte results in forming an oxide film on lead anodes during electrolysis. Pb-0.7% Ag anode is generally used in the zinc industry. To improve the technical performance and decrease product cost, other anodes, such as Pb-Ca or Pb-Ag-Ca or Pb-Ag-Ti or Pb-Ag-Se alloys were tested. Till now, none of them has succeeded in the substitution of Pb-Ag anodes in the zinc electrowinning. As an alloying element, silver in small quantities is considered because of the benefits that generates on the anode during electrolysis. During zinc electrolysis, lead dissolution into the zinc electrolyte can be harmful to the quality of zinc deposit. However, the lead silver alloy anode can decrease the lead content in the zinc deposit by pre-treated methods such as blasting and preconditioning.

Award Identifier / Grant number: RDCPJ 428402

Funding statement: The authors are grateful to Hydro-Quebec, CEZ, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (Grant No. RDCPJ 428402) for their financial support.

About the author

Wei Zhang

Wei Zhang has 31 years experience in electrochemical behavior and corrosion-related research. He has in-depth knowledge of corrosion science and corrosion engineering, including technologies for corrosion mitigation, and scientific techniques for corrosion research. Also, he has a solid background in materials science and engineering, and a variety of materials processing technologies. He got his Master’s and PhD degrees from the University Laval in 2005 and 2010, respectively.

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Received: 2018-02-01
Accepted: 2018-11-28
Published Online: 2019-01-11
Published in Print: 2019-03-26

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