Kinetic Study of Cementation Cadmium Ions Using Zinc Powder from Synthetic Sulfate Solutions

Abstract

Zinc production faces a significant challenge from cadmium (Cd2+). Therefore, this study investigated the cementation of cadmium from sulfate solutions with zinc powder. This work examined how pH of the solution, reaction time, and temperature affect cadmium cementation. The primary focus of the study was the impact of varying initial pH (1–5) on Cd2+ removal efficiency (%) at 20 minutes. Results showed maximum cadmium cementation efficiency at a pH of 4. The cadmium cementation process was also affected by reaction times (20, 40, 60, and 80 min). Zinc powder was used to study cadmium cementation reaction kinetics in sulfate solutions at various temperatures (50, 60, 70, and 80 ºC). We found that the reaction rate constant (K) rose with temperature, peaking at 80 ºC. This study found the best pH, reaction time, and temperature to be 4, 80 minutes, and 80°C, respectively. When various theories were used to calculate reaction kinetics, activation energies of 13.75297 and 12.18379 were revealed. These results indicate that the Arrhenius theory best explains the reaction mechanism in this study. SEM and EDS analyses revealed a cadmium deposit. These results offer more insight into cadmium cementation.