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Potential-Selective Deposition Of Copper From Chloride Solutions Containing Iron, Ralph E. White, James A. Trainham, John Newman, Thomas W. Chapman

Faculty Publications

The hydrometallurgy of copper may involve leaching of the metal from its ore with an aqueous solution containing cupric and ferric chloride. The subsequent deposition of copper from such a process stream is modeled here in an idealized electrochemical cell with a rotating-disk electrode. The potential distribution and concentration profiles within the diffusion layer are predicted for given potential differences between the electrode and the solution. The cuprous ion, which is formed by the reduction of the complexed cupric ion at the electrode, is stabilized in the chloride solution and can react either at the electrode or with ferric species …