The Study of Jarosite Waste Used for Suspension Electrolysis in Aqueous NaOH Electrolyte

Jarosite waste is normally generated from the purification process of zinc production. It contains many valuable elements such as zinc, lead, and especially iron. In the present study, jarosite waste was treated through thermal analysis and washing processes to concentrate hematite. An electrolysis process was used to reduce iron from the hematite in order to seek a new way to recycle the value of the resource. The electrochemical behavior of hematite in jarosite waste was studied by cyclic voltammetry at 100 °C in a 50 wt% NaOH aqueous solution. Constant cell voltage electrolysis was performed at 1.6 V by using electrolysis of a suspension of purified jarosite. Iron was found to deposit on a silver cathode during electrolysis. The sample was collected and analyzed by XRD.