Removal of Antimony and Bismuth in Copper Electrolyte by Resin Adsorption

Resin Adsorption was adopted for removal of Sb and Bi in copper electrolyte. A series of investigations were done respectively on: adsorption capacity of resin for Sb and Bi, affects of solution flow rate and temperature for the adsorption of Sb and Bi, affects of eluent types, temperature and additives for the elution efficiency of Sb and Bi. The experimental results showed that, the resin has the same adsorption capacity for Sb and Bi, the adsorption could be improved by the solution flow rate reducing and the temperature increasing. In the dynamic adsorption test, the resin has adsorption effect on Sb, Bi, Pb and Fe in copper electrolyte, and the average adsorption rates are 94.4%, 97.3%, 75.9% and 28.3%, respectively. The elution of Sb was mainly influenced by the concentrations of H⁺ and Cl^-. The elution of Bi was mainly influenced by the concentrations of Cl^-. It was beneficial for the elution of Sb (V) by adding thiourea in high concentration HCl solution at a certain temperature.