Pulse cyclone electrowinning of gallium recovery for higher current efficiency and lower energy consumption

Traditional gallium electrowinning suffers from low current efficiency and high specific energy consumption due to the inevitable hydrogen evolution reaction. In order to inhibit hydrogen evolution reaction and alleviate the concentration polarization, the pulse cyclone electrowinning process was proposed and developed to enhance diffusion and convection. During the pulse current off time, the ion concentration in the cathode diffusion layer can be effectively restored, while forced convection accelerates this process. Electrochemical experiments using a rotating disk electrode have preliminarily confirmed that pulsed electrodeposition can accelerate nucleation and improve current efficiency. Pilot experiments were conducted using an industrial gallium electrolyte to further validate the feasibility of the pulse cyclone electrowinning process. Under the following conditions: current density of 2000 A/m2, duty ratio of 50%, frequency of 10 Hz, and circulation flow of 400 L/h, the current efficiency and specific energy consumption were determined to be 69.21% and 7836 kWh/t, respectively. Compared to the traditional electrowinning process at the same average current density, pulse cyclone electrowinning exhibited a significant increase in current efficiency and a reduction in specific energy consumption by 52.28% and 31.57%, respectively. Overall, this study confirmed the feasibility of pulse cyclone electrowinning coupling pulse current and forced convection, which can also be applied to other electrodeposition processes to achieve higher current efficiency and lower energy consumption.