Middle East Technical University: Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
Department of Metallurgical and

Materials Engineering
Mete 215 MATERIALS PROCESSING

LABORATORY
Experiment VI
LEACHING AND ELECTROWINING
Instructor: Prof. Dr. shak Karakaya

Assistant: Olgun Ylmaz
Name Of The Student: aatay Han Aldemir
Student NO: 2170447
Group Number: 6
Experiment Date: 02.11.2017
Submission Date: 12.11.2017
Abstract
In this experiment, firstly, we are going to solve Zincsulfate in

Sulfuric acid. Then, by using electrical energy, chemical
reaction will take place and pure zinc will be obtained thanks
to this operation. This procedure is called electrowining. And
electro chemical reactions will occur when we apply electrical
voltage to our aqueous solution.
Introduction:
In nature, subtances are mostly found as compounds
(except from noble gases). And there are several ways of
extracting compounds. The aim of this experiment is by using
leaching and electrowining methods, seperate pure zinc from
zinc-oxide.
Leaching is the process of extracting minerals from a solid
by dissolving them in a liquid. In this experiment, zinc-oxide
will be solved in sulfuric acid according to this equation;
ZnO(s) + H2SO4(aq) = ZnSO4(aq) + H2O(l) Eq.(I)
ZnSO4(aq) ,in aqueous solution, exists as Zn2+ and SO42-
ions.
When electronic voltage is applied to this aqueous solution,
electronic current causes decomposition of the solution and
zinc is precipitated. This process is called as electrowinning.
Cathodes should be metal. They can be either a pure metal

of the collected metal(zinc in this case), or they can be
another metal. Aliminum cathodes will be used in this
experiment.
In cathode, main reaction takes place as;
Zn++ + 2e- = Zn eo(cathode) = -0.76 V Eq.(II)
Anodes should be insoluble electrical conductors.
And the main reaction of anode is;
H2O(l) = O2(g) + 2H+ + 2 e- eo(anode) = -1.23 V Eq.(III)
Atmospheric pressure and Temperature is also important

while doing the experiment because they effect solubility of
matter directly. In this experiment, the temperature is 250C
(room temperature), and the pressure is approximately 1
atm.
Moreover, total reaction is exothermic, and it may cause the

temperature to rise .If the temperature rises too high, it
results in impurities. To prevent this situation, system is
cooled by cool water that circulate the system via coils
immersed in the cell.
The decomposition of zinc sulfate solution takes place

according to this equation;
ZnSO4(aq) + H2O(l) = Zn(s) + H2SO4(aq) + O2(g) Eq.(IV)
Due to ZnSO4 is Zn++ and SO4=, similarly H2SO4(aq) is 2H+ and

SO4=; Equation IV can also be written as:
Zn++ + SO4=+ H2O(l) = Zn(s) + 2H++ SO4= + O2(g) Eq.(V)
Equation V is sum of cathodic and anodic reactions given in

equations II and III respectively.
Then, the theoratical standart decompostion voltage of zinc

sulfate is;
E0 = e0(anode) + e0(cathode) = -1.99 volts. Eq.(VI)

That means, we need to apply 1.99 volts potential between
the electrodes for the electrolysis of a zinc solution under
standart conditions. Under electrolysis conditions, the
theoretical voltage required for the electrolysis of a zinc
sulfate solution is 2.35 volts. However, there are other
voltages we need to apply, such as the voltage drop due to
ohmic resistance in the electrolyte, voltage drop due to
ohmic resistance in the electrode leads and electrodes and
voltage drop due to overvoltage of the cell ().
So, the total applied voltage is expressed as;
V = - E + ( Re+ Rl ) I + Eq.(VII)
V: The total applied voltage Rl: Resistance of leads

E: Decomposition Voltage I: Current
Re: Resistance of electrolyte : Overvoltage
Experimental:
Apparatus;
1. D.C power supply
2. Ampermeters
3. 150 ml. Beakers
4. aluminum cathodes
5. lead anodes
6. Zinc sulfate
7. Sulfuric acid
8. Balance and weights
Procedure;
First, 19.53 gram ZnSO4 is dissolved in 150ml beaker by using
distilled water to prepare 100 ml electrolyte.
(ZnSO4 was prepared by the instructors before the
experiment.)
Cathodes weight is measured as 11.986g.
Then, anode and cathode is placed parallely to each other
and the istance between anode and cathode is maintained
constant by using spacers.
Anode bus bar is connected (+) source and cathode bus bar is
(-) source and 3.3 volts potential applied. That pottential is
kept constant during the experiment.
Then, current is measured per minutes at the starting 5
minutes, after that it is measured every 5 minutes till 60
minutes.
Finally, pure zinc is removed from cathode and its weight is
measured approximately 0.2 g.
Theoretically, Weight of the substance deposited in

gm = (MW*I*T)/(n*F) Eq.(VIII)
Where:
MW: Atomic moleculer weight n: Valency
I: Current(ampere) F: Faradays constant
t: Time (sec)
At the beggining of the experiment, for 4 minutes, we took

voltage 3.0 V instead of 3.3 V unconsciously. So the results
are changed with respect to that situation.
Results & Discussions

While doing experiment, we made a mistake and we took
electrical voltage = 3V instead of 3.3 V for first 4 minutes.
At the time interval 8-9 minutes something unexpected
happened and current decreased from 210mA to 205mA.
So the current density is also decreased (as seen in figure 2).
The reason of this situation is unknown.
The reason of increasing in current is while zinc sulfade is
dissolving , number of H+ ions in solution is increasing. So
electrolytic conductivity and current is also increasing
Expected zinc was 0.26 g. However, we obtain 0.20 g pure
zinc.
Except from 8-9 minutes, everything was appropriate with
theory.
Appendicies
Current density/area changing over time;
Time(min) Current Density(A/m2)

1 200
2 200
3 200
4 200
5 450
6 500
7 500
8 525
9 512,5
14 550
19 612,5
24 612,5
29 612,5
34 612,5
39 625
44 625
49 625
54 637.5
59 637,5
64 637,5
700
600
500
Current Density(A/m2)
400
300
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time(min)
(Figure 1)
Power consumption/time;
Energy consumption = (V* I* t)/(W*3600*1000)
Where V is the applied potential in volts, I is the current

(amperes(, t is the time of deposition in seconds, and W is the
weight of deposition in kilograms.
Energy consumption over time;
Time Consumption(w.h/kg)
1 0,33
2 0,33
3 0,33
4 0,825
5 0,917
6 0,917
7 0,917
8 0,963
9 0,94
14 1,01
19 1,12
24 1,12
29 1,12
34 1,12
39 1,15
44 1,15
49 1,15
54 1,17
59 1,17
64 1,17
1.4
1.2
Energy Consumption(w.h/kg)
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64
Time(min)
(Figure 2)
Current Efficiency =
..= /
Weight Theoretical Deposited = 0.26 g (calculated by
using Eq.VIII)
Weight Actual Deposited = 0.20 g
So the percent current efficiency;

(0.20/0.26)*100=%76.92
Energy Efficiency = (Vt/Va) * C.E
Where Vt is the theoretical cell voltage in volts (Vt of zinc

electrowinning cell is 2.35 volts), Va is the applied voltage in
volts, and C.E. is the current efficiency of process.
=(2.35/3.3)*0.77
=0.55
So the percent energy efficiency is 0.55*100= %55
Conclusion;
So, in this experiment we obtain zinc from Zinc-sulfate by
using electrical energy. The results were appropriate with
theoritical assumptions. Significance of this experiment is
understanding that we can purify metals by using electrical
energy instead of heat energy which is much more harmful
for environmental. And in future it might be more cheaper.
References;
http://scholarsmine.mst.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=308
7&context=doctoral_dissertations
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304386X
96000321

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MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

Department of Metallurgical and

Mete 215 MATERIALS PROCESSING

Instructor: Prof. Dr. shak Karakaya

In this experiment, firstly, we are going to solve Zincsulfate in

ZnO(s) + H2SO4(aq) = ZnSO4(aq) + H2O(l) Eq.(I)

ZnSO4(aq) ,in aqueous solution, exists as Zn2+ and SO42-

Cathodes should be metal. They can be either a pure metal

In cathode, main reaction takes place as;

Zn++ + 2e- = Zn eo(cathode) = -0.76 V Eq.(II)

Anodes should be insoluble electrical conductors.

And the main reaction of anode is;

H2O(l) = O2(g) + 2H+ + 2 e- eo(anode) = -1.23 V Eq.(III)

Atmospheric pressure and Temperature is also important

Moreover, total reaction is exothermic, and it may cause the

The decomposition of zinc sulfate solution takes place

ZnSO4(aq) + H2O(l) = Zn(s) + H2SO4(aq) + O2(g) Eq.(IV)

Due to ZnSO4 is Zn++ and SO4=, similarly H2SO4(aq) is 2H+ and

Zn++ + SO4=+ H2O(l) = Zn(s) + 2H++ SO4= + O2(g) Eq.(V)

Equation V is sum of cathodic and anodic reactions given in

Then, the theoratical standart decompostion voltage of zinc

E0 = e0(anode) + e0(cathode) = -1.99 volts. Eq.(VI)

So, the total applied voltage is expressed as;

V: The total applied voltage Rl: Resistance of leads

Theoretically, Weight of the substance deposited in

At the beggining of the experiment, for 4 minutes, we took

Results & Discussions

Current density/area changing over time;

Time(min) Current Density(A/m2)

Where V is the applied potential in volts, I is the current

So the percent current efficiency;

Energy Efficiency = (Vt/Va) * C.E

Where Vt is the theoretical cell voltage in volts (Vt of zinc

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