ELECTRODEPOSITION OF 6 HEAVY-METALS ON RETICULATED VITREOUS CARBON ELECTRODE

Six heavy metals, Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, U and Zn were deposited on cathodes made of a newly developed form of C, reticulated vitreous carbon [RVC], in a laboratory scale electrochemical reactor. Different metals varied in the extent of their removal with Cu depositing 100% at a flow rate of 0.24 cm/min in a single pass while it required a maximum of 20 passes for 100% Cr deposition at a flow rate of 1.8 cm/min, initial concentrations for both metals being 50 .mu.mol/l. Experiments conducted using 0.5 .times. 10-3 M CuSO4 in 0.5 M Na2SO4 supporting electrolyte resulted in a mass transfer coefficient of the order of 10-3 cm/s and a current efficiency of 64% for the electrodeposition of Cu at a cell voltage of 4.0 V. Because of high porosity, 97%, high specific surface area, up to 66 cm2/cm3 for RVC grade 100, and useful electrochemical characteristics, RVC can be used as electrode material for heavy metal removal from dilute industrial effluents.