The influence of nickel ions on the long period electrowinning of zinc from sulfate electrolytes

The effects of nickel ions on cathodic current efficiency, electrical power consumption, cell voltage and the surface morphology of deposits during the long period electrowinning of zinc from acid sulfate electrolytes are investigated in this paper. The polarization behavior of the cathode is also examined. The presence of nickel ions in the electrolytes increases the electrical power consumption, decreases the current efficiency, affects the cell voltage and produces the worse surface morphologies. The results of the experiments also show that the zinc electrodeposition process and the cathodic polarization behavior are greatly changed in the presence of nickel ions in the electrolytes.