DSA Coated Titanium Anode for Nickel Electrowinning Cell

DSA Coated Titanium Anode for Nickel Electrowinning Cell 

The electrolytic cell for nickel electrowinninig contains a fairly high amount of chloride and will therefore require an electrode that is resistant to chlorine attack, as chlorine will be evolved at the anode. The complicating factor here is also the production of oxygen at the anode too. Most materials are resistant to either chlorine or oxygen, but not both, or at least not well.

For this reason, inert or insoluble catalyst coated anodes applied on an inert substrate. Usually, the best bet is to use a layered inert anode material. The chlorine attack usually occurs on the substrate itself, so it should either have high chlorine over potential, it can be titanium (or tantalum) with a small layer of platinum electroplated to it. Then, the electrode substrate can be coated with an oxygen evolving catalyst, such as iridium dioxide or similar coatings. An excellent lifetime will be obtained in most of application, however care must be exercised not to allow the electrode to be cathodic, or the coating will be quickly lost.

UTron has developed a novel noble metal oxide coated titanium anode comprising nano iridium oxide in combination with amorphous tantalum oxide and other elements for nickel electrowinning. It can remarkable decrease cell voltage compared with traditional lead alloy anode, which can reduce the electric energy consumption in electro winning process. It gives additional merits in suppressing by products such as lead, MnOOH, or CoOOH on anode.