Determination of the optimal condition increasing the purity of a rare metal

Abstract

In order to increase the purity of thallium, electrochemical studies were carried out in the presence of sulfate, nitrate and acetate background electrolytes of the metal. The results of the study showed a high dissolution of the precipitated thallium (-0.85 V) in a nitrate electrolyte solution. Since in production, along with thallium, a large amount of lead is contained as an impurity, and for the purpose of selective deposition of lead using a sulfate electrolyte, a sulfate electrolyte was additionally used. In addition, the effects of concentration, temperature, pH, and mixing of thallium electrolytes during cathodic deposition and anodic dissolution were considered. To obtain thallium in its pure form, the effective pH value is equal to = 3.5 and 11, and the rotational speed value = 500 rpm. As a result of the study, effective parameters for increasing the purity of thallium were determined. According to the electrochemical properties of thallium, it was found that on a glass-carbon electrode in sulfate, nitrate, acetate electrolytes, the results obtained indicate that the processes of reduction and oxidation of thallium proceed in a diffusion mode.