Influence of Different Sulphate Salts as Anolytes Towards the Performance of Copper(II) Recovery by using an Electrogenerative Process

The influence of different typesof sulphate salts towards the performance of copper(II)recovery via an electrogenerative process was investigatedin this study. Here, the electrogenerative process was based on the use of a batch cell with reticulated vitreous carbon and zinc plate as the cathode and anode, respectively. The anolytes used in this study were ammonium sulphate, sodium sulphate and potassium sulphate. While the catholyte used was copper(II)sulphate. Results showed that ammonium sulphate with a concentration of 0.5 M was the most suitable anolyte to fully recover 100 mgL-1initial copper(II) sulphate within threehours of operation. Ammonium sulphate has a highermobility as compared to other salts. Type of electrolyte, size of ion and solubility are strongly implicated in determining its mobility.Thus, it provideda better recovery rate of copper(II)in this electrogenerative process. Finally, The recovery of copper(II)was evaluated by using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS).