Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

The Effect Of Mass Transport On Deposit Quality In Copper Electrowinning, Joseph Bauer

Doctoral Dissertations

"Roughness and nodulation of copper electrodeposits depend strongly on mass transfer conditions of copper ions to the electrode surface. Mass transfer properties in electrowinning electrolytes were first characterized. The effective diffusivity of cupric ion was measured with a rotating disk electrode in CuSO₄-H₂SO₄ electrolytes at temperatures relevant to electrowinning, with and without additives. Adding 20 mg L^-1 of chloride ion increased the measured diffusion coefficient, but commercial smoothing additives had little effect. An empirical formula to predict cupric diffusivity was generated for later use in mass transport modeling.

Boundary layer thickness information for commercial …