Simultaneous Electrowinning of Lead and Manganese Dioxide in Chloride Medium

Electrowinning of lead from aqueous solution of PbCl2 and electrowinning of manganese dioxide from aqueous solution of MnCl2 are two research focuses in hydrometallurgy. This paper investigated a new process of simultaneous electrowinning of lead and manganese dioxide in chloride medium. The simultaneous electrowinning process in chloride solution not only can prevent chloride from liberating at anodes but also obtain two electrolysis products and decrease electric energy consumption. Diaphragm cell is used in the simultaneous electrowinning process to form separate anode and cathode compartment. The effects of temperature, HCl concentration in anolyte, NaCl concentration in catholyte and electrolysis time on current efficiency and cell voltage are studied. The results indicate that current efficiency of anode and cathode for 5 hours is 99% and 96% respectively, average cell voltage is 1. 701V, the weight ratio of lead and manganese dioxide produced at electrodes is 2. 39:1 under the optimum conditions. As anode products, manganese dioxide is ??MnO2, content of which in the products is more than 92%.