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Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol.148, No.4, C284-C288, 2001
Effect of centrifugal force on electrodeposition of Hg2+ and Pb2+ at a spinning graphite cathode
An innovative technique has been developed in our laboratory permitting near total removal of toxic heavy metal ions like Hg2+ and Pb2+, in ppm concentration, from wastewater by simultaneously employing the electrodeposition and the action of the centrifugal force. Matter having a density higher than pure water is concentrated at the bottom of the spinning container where a graphite cathode is located. Cu2+, being less toxic, was chosen as a model heavy metal ion to work out the detail of the dependency of removal of the heavy metal ion on parameters like spinning velocity and spinning time of the centrifuge at a given optimal electrodeposition potential. It was determined that Hg2+ (50.3 ppm) was removed near 100% at the spinning velocity of 6000 rpm in 20 min or less, for the same spinning velocity, Pb2+ (51.9 ppm) was removed 98.3% for a spinning time of 50 min. This high percentage of removal of Hg2+ and Pb2+ from wastewater cannot be achieved by simple exhaustive electrodeposition method alone. Our technique may have a significant impact on industrial wastewater treatment processes dealing with the removal of trace toxic heavy metal ions from the feed.