Electrowinning of Iron from Alkaline Solution

Abstract

Electrowinning of iron from alkaline solution containing ferric oxide, silica, and alumina was investigated by constant current electrolysis at 110°C. The deposits were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). The SEM images demonstrated that there were small gaps between columns, which stacked up with six twin crystals when the electrolyte silica and alumina content was up to 20 wt%, but EDS results showed that the purity was still high. This indicated that electrowinning of iron should be possible directly from iron ore without further purification.