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Nickel recovery from nickel sulphate solution

September 16, 2008

I am a engineer. I am in the process of recovery of nickel from extracted nickel sulphate solution from the electroplating sludge. I want to know the type anode and cathode to be used.what should be electrolyte conc. pH to be maintained. Voltage to be maintained.
Please help me.

David

David Raj
product designer - Singapore

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Hi, David. You can use platinized titanium anodes and observe what happens as you increase the voltage, comparing your results to Faraday's Law. The efficiency of nickel plating plummets as the concentration declines, the consequent release of hydrogen drives the pH upwards to where the nickel precipitates, and I think you will find that it is not a simple matter to get useful reductions in nickel concentration in a conventional open tank.

I would suggest you start by considering the purchase of an electrolytic recovery system for nickel if you are trying to electrolytically recover nickel. The manufacturers of those systems have been working on this for decades, and have resolved some of the issues of high surface area cathodes, extreme agitation, close anode-to-cathode spacing without short circuiting, proper fusing for this application, etc. Even then, the concentration of nickel in the waste will be too high for discharge.

If you are a researcher trying to advance the art, great. But if you are a pragmatist looking for a solution, electrolytic recovery of nickel is problematic and limited, and you may want to carefully study those limits before you lose a lot of time and money in experimentation.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September , 2008