Abstract :
A diluted electroplating cyanide rinse water has been used to test the use of the hydrocyclone cell (HCC) in batch recycle mode of operation for the simultaneous oxidation of cyanide during the electrodeposition of silver. The results obtained in this work with regard to the final products, current efficiency and the number of transferred electrons per CN− helped to establish a probable reaction scheme. According to this, the process occurs mainly with one-electron transfer, through cyanate and cyanogen as intermediate species. Meanwhile, under conditions where the electrolyte circulates in an open bath and flows successively through the cathodic and the anodic compartments, as in the case of the HCC system, the cyanate could be produced by the direct oxidation through air and/or generated peroxide and CN− could be lost as HCN (g).
