China Nonferrous Metallurgy

The removal of As, Sb, and Bi impurities has always been a hot issue in copper electrolytic refining. At present, the most widely method is the electrowinning. This process has disadvantages such as low removal efficiency, low current efficiency, arsenic poisonous gas generated on the cathode, and the impurities cannot be completely removed, some black copper powder produced during the electrification process. In response to this problem, Yanggu Xiangguang Copper Industry Co., Ltd. has developed an antimony-based adsorbent, which can adsorb As, Sb, and Bi in the copper electrolyte, and can be reused. It is a green and environmentally friendly adsorption purification method. In this paper, the optimal process conditions have been experimentally studied, and the results show that Under these conditions of adsorbent As/Sb=1, the temperature 70℃, the stirring speed 350r/min, the adsorption rate of As and Bi reaches more than 80%; the best conditions for desorption are pH=10 and temperature 60℃, under these conditions, the desorption rate is over 85%; the adsorbent can be recycled for about 40 times, and the adsorption effect is good.