Kinetics of tellurium and selenium cathodic reduction in electrochemical processing of tellurium- and selenium-containing concentrates

摘要

This paper presents the results of the research in the kinetics of Te and Se powder cathodic reduction from alkali solutions. This is due to the limitation of the rate of tellurium- and selenium-containing concentrates electrochemical processing in alkali solutions generally caused by the rate of cathodic process. During cathodic reduction of Te and Se powder in alkali solutions, the competing process of hydrogen generation simultaneously occurs. Therefore, volumetric method was employed for the study of the kinetics. Based on the experiments made, time dependence of partial current density changing, which characterizes the rate of Te and Se reduction, on the amount of solids in suspension, alkali concentration, temperature, and cathodic current density has been defined. The comparison of the characteristics of Te and Se cathodic reduction permits of choosing conditions for the separation of tellurium from selenium by electrochemical method.