Application of Carbon-Based Oxygen
Evolution Reaction Electrocatalyst
in Zinc Electrowinning System
Jing Zhao, Yanfang Huang, Bingbing Liu, Guihong Han, and Shengpeng Su
Abstract Electrode polarization potential is an important factor of cell voltage
during electrowinning, which can affect the total energy consumption of the zinc
hydrometallurgy process. In this work, we creatively use a metal-free oxygen evolution catalyst of water electrolysis to the hydrometallurgy system. An amino-rich
hierarchical-network carbon(Amino-HNC) electrocatalyst was prepared by a simple
two-step method of amino-assisted polymerization and carbonization process. The
surface morphology, phase composition, and electrochemical properties were characterized. The results show that Amino-HNC is an electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution
reaction with an amino-rich network structure, and the oxygen evolution overpotential in 0.5 mol L
−1 H 2 SO 4 electrolyte is 389 mV (@ 10 mA cm
−2 ). Meanwhile, the
prefabricated catalyst is directly used as an anode in the zinc electrowinning system
(50 g L
−1 Zn
2+
+ 150 g L
−1 H 2 SO 4 ) to measure the cell voltage. Compare with the
traditional pure lead anode, the cell voltage decreased in a short time during the zinc
electrowinning process.
Keywords Oxygen evolution reaction · Electrocatalyst · Anode materials · Zinc
electrowinning · Carbon-based material
Introduction
Electrowinning is one of the most important unit operations in the zinc hydrometallurgy industry. The main flow of zinc electrowinning is through the direct current into
the pre-treated electrolyte which contains zinc ions so that the zinc can be deposited
on the cathode plate to obtain pure zinc [1]. This method consumes a large amount
of electric energy [2]. Considering the background of the current energy shortage
and the control of the total cost of actual production process, it is necessary to find a
solution that can effectively reduce the energy consumption of zinc electrowinning
process.
J. Zhao · Y. Huang · B. Liu · G. Han (B) · S. Su
School of Chemical Engineering and Energy, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, People’s
Republic of China
e-mail: hanguihong@zzu.edu.cn
© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2021
A. A. Baba et al. (eds.), Energy Technology 2021, The Minerals, Metals
& Materials Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65257-9_1
3
Evolution Reaction Electrocatalyst
in Zinc Electrowinning System
Jing Zhao, Yanfang Huang, Bingbing Liu, Guihong Han, and Shengpeng Su
Abstract Electrode polarization potential is an important factor of cell voltage
during electrowinning, which can affect the total energy consumption of the zinc
hydrometallurgy process. In this work, we creatively use a metal-free oxygen evolution catalyst of water electrolysis to the hydrometallurgy system. An amino-rich
hierarchical-network carbon(Amino-HNC) electrocatalyst was prepared by a simple
two-step method of amino-assisted polymerization and carbonization process. The
surface morphology, phase composition, and electrochemical properties were characterized. The results show that Amino-HNC is an electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution
reaction with an amino-rich network structure, and the oxygen evolution overpotential in 0.5 mol L
−1 H 2 SO 4 electrolyte is 389 mV (@ 10 mA cm
−2 ). Meanwhile, the
prefabricated catalyst is directly used as an anode in the zinc electrowinning system
(50 g L
−1 Zn
2+
+ 150 g L
−1 H 2 SO 4 ) to measure the cell voltage. Compare with the
traditional pure lead anode, the cell voltage decreased in a short time during the zinc
electrowinning process.
Keywords Oxygen evolution reaction · Electrocatalyst · Anode materials · Zinc
electrowinning · Carbon-based material
Introduction
Electrowinning is one of the most important unit operations in the zinc hydrometallurgy industry. The main flow of zinc electrowinning is through the direct current into
the pre-treated electrolyte which contains zinc ions so that the zinc can be deposited
on the cathode plate to obtain pure zinc [1]. This method consumes a large amount
of electric energy [2]. Considering the background of the current energy shortage
and the control of the total cost of actual production process, it is necessary to find a
solution that can effectively reduce the energy consumption of zinc electrowinning
process.
J. Zhao · Y. Huang · B. Liu · G. Han (B) · S. Su
School of Chemical Engineering and Energy, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, People’s
Republic of China
e-mail: hanguihong@zzu.edu.cn
© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2021
A. A. Baba et al. (eds.), Energy Technology 2021, The Minerals, Metals
& Materials Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65257-9_1
3