Electrogenerative Process as an Alternate Technique for Nickel Recovery from Its Sulphate Solution at Low Concentration

Abstract

In this study, a static batch reactor equipped with three-dimensional (3-D) carbon felt (CF) as cathode material was fully optimized to recover a low nickel concentration from its sulphate solution. Nickel recovery was performed using several nickel concentrations ranging from 50, 100, 250, 400 and 500 mg/L. Moreover, within 30 min of electrogenerative operation, it was discovered that the recovery of nickel achieved > 90 % in acidic conditions. At last, the deposition of nickel into CF was further investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to visualize the surface morphology of nickel on CF.