The Processes Of Electro-Refining And Electro-Processing

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the opposite reaction occurs as the metals ions attach themselves to the metal cathode by using available electrons to become "satisfied" again,

i.e Mn+ + ne ¡÷ M ,

where it can be removed as purified metal. The impurities are deposited at the bottom of the cell as

Copper electro refining is a typical example of refining in wide use, see appendix 1.

1,2,3,4

A typical electrolytic cell used for electrorefining:

5

Electroplating is a very similar process to that used for electro-refining however a pure metal that is the plating metal is required to be used at the anode. See appendix 2.

There are a number of factors which can affect the quality of the product produced through electrolysis, in processes such as electro-refining, electro-winning and electroplating.

Current density has an important role in producing a highly refined metal and also in producing a good quality of plating in the electroplating process. It can strongly affect deposition rate and ...

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and not across the whole surface area it becomes inefficient. It is also affected by the ability of the metals to undergo electrolysis, i.e if the metals are electro-potentially incompatible i.e cathode potential is increased greatly along with current, then the process is much more difficult due to "over potential", which causes other reactions where current is wasted.

Other factors which can affect electroplating quality and efficiency are cell voltage, ratio of anode area ¡V cathode area, time of deposition, composition and temperature of electrolyte. See appendix 3.

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Metal Ions concentration can affect the rate of deposition. If within the electrolyte there is a low ...

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