Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Simple method to regenrate zinc from zinc sulfate

feynmann - 6-8-2008 at 09:51

I use zinc to generate hydrogen by adding sulfuric acid

Is there a simple method to get zinc from zinc sulfate by electrochemical method?(actually I need procedure)

12AX7 - 6-8-2008 at 10:15

Google "electroplating".

feynmann - 6-8-2008 at 10:34

I know the electroplating but i need an amateur method to get it (simple experiment not industrial one)

kclo4 - 6-8-2008 at 20:33

Electrolysis is not that hard to do, research it a bit. Electrolysis also will create hydrogen.
Why do you choose to use Zn instead of Al?

not_important - 6-8-2008 at 21:00

Electrolysis is the best way to get metallic zinc when working on a small scale. Because zinc has a low boiling point, thermal reduction of its oxide by carbon creates a lot of zinc vapour, which is lost in small scale setups.

ScienceSquirrel - 8-8-2008 at 04:43

You would be better off generating your hydrogen by electrolysis in the first place.
Recovering small amounts of zinc by electrolysis is going to involve a lot of time and effort.

chloric1 - 9-8-2008 at 04:11

Quote:
Originally posted by kclo4
Electrolysis is not that hard to do, research it a bit. Electrolysis also will create hydrogen.
Why do you choose to use Zn instead of Al?


YEH I am going to have too agree here. Aluminum is everywhere and cheap. You might be able to get it free if you know where to look. Plus you can produce usefull things with the waste. Alum crystals, aluminum hydroxide,sodium aluminate etc.

Now theres nothing wrong getting zinc back from your waste. Just a hint to get you on your way, use an aluminum cathode and lead anode. The aluminum cathode will not allow zinc plating to adhear so can wack it of with a chisle or maybe a paint scraper. If deposit is brittle enough you can try just slightly flexing/bending said cathode. Braurs work called "Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry" details how to prepare various metal elements via electrolysis.

[Edited on 8/9/2008 by chloric1]

feynmann - 9-8-2008 at 06:22

thanks chloric1 for the information and the book

btw here is the link for such wonderful reference
http://rapidshare.com/files/9234589/Handbook_Of_Preparative_...

12AX7 - 9-8-2008 at 08:24

Why Rapidshare? It's in the library you know...

feynmann - 9-8-2008 at 09:39

I am new here .........sorry I don't know
I hope I see a lot of ebooks for practical organic chemistry especially those by Donald Pavia