Abstract
The electrolytic production of nickel-copper alloy by electrochemical reduction of converter matte in molten salt has been investigated. The sintered solid porous pellets of Ni3S2, Cu2S and converter matte were electrolyzed at a voltage of 3.0 V in molten CaCl2-NaCl under the protection of argon gas at 700℃, respectively. The electro-reduction processes were investigated and the products were characterized. The results show that the molten salt electro-reduction process can be used to produce nickel, copper and nickel-copper alloy directly from Ni3S2, Cu2S and converter matte precursors in molten CaCl2-NaCl, respectively. CaS would be formed as the intermediate compound during the electro-reduction process, and then the formed CaS can be gradually decomposed and removed with the increase of the electrolysis time. The experimental results show that the molten salt electro-reduction process has the potential to be used for the reduction of sulfide minerals in molten CaCl2-NaCl
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-11 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Feb 2018 |
Keywords
- converter matte
- electro-reduction
- Nickel-Copper alloy
- molten CaCl2-NaCl
- solid-state electrochemistry