Effect of Fe3+ on electrowinning of copper by CE

Abstract

To overcome the interference of Fe3+ in a leaching solution on copper electrowinning, a new copper electrowinning recovery process was developed by cyclone electrowinning (CE). The effects of Fe3+ on copper recovery, cathode copper morphology, and current efficiency under CE were studied. The addition amount of Fe3+ almost has no effect on the purity and electrowinning rate of cathode copper but affects the current efficiency of CE. The current efficiency decreases with the increase in Fe3+ concentration The current efficiency of first stage decreased from 99.6 % to 38.23 %. The current efficiency of second stage slightly decreased from 94.33 % to 77.94 %. The current efficiency of third stage decreased from 72.61 % to 27.2 %. The grain size of cathode copper with a high Fe3+ concentration increases, and the overall quality decreases. Therefore, the concentration of Fe3+ in the electrolyte should be properly controlled to efficiently obtain the copper cathode with good morphology before the CE of copper.