Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 28 No 6 (2024): 1337 - 1348

 

RECOVERY OF LOW CONCENTRATION OF TIN FROM SYNTHETIC WASTEWATER BY USING AN ELECTROGENERATIVE PROCESS

 

(Pemulihan Timah Berkepekatan Rendah daripada Air Sisa Sintetik dengan Menggunakan Proses Elektrogeneratif)

 

Muhammad Hakeem Azhan Mohd Azhari1, Syaza Atikah Nizar1, Syed Fariq Fathullah Syed Yaacob1, Ahmad Faiz Abdul Latip1, Megat Ahmad Kamal Megat Hanafiah2, and Faiz Bukhari Mohd Suah1*

 

1Green Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.

2Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pahang, Lintasan Semarak, 26400 Jengka, Pahang, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: fsuah@usm.my

 

 

Received: 7 July 2024; Accepted: 1 October 2024; Published: 29 December 2024

 

Abstract

The existence of tin can be toxic and pose significant environmental and health risks if not adequately treated or recovered from water and wastewater before its discharge. One of the electrochemical methods to recover the tin from the aqueous environment is using an electrogenerative process. In this process, a chemical reaction occurred spontaneously in a galvanic cell where the reduction of tin occurred at the cathode and oxidation of zinc occurred at the anode without an external supply of energy. This study employed carbon felt and zinc as electrodes in a batch cell set-up to recover tin (Sn (II)) from its chloride solution. The electrogenerative recovery of tin was optimised with a specific focus on main parameters such as treatment of electrodes, tin initial concentration, deposition time, pH and influence of oxygen. The morphology and composition of the treated electrodes were analysed, too. The finding showed an initial Sn (II) concentration of 50 mg/L was the ideal concentration for recovering more than 96% of tin after 4 hours of operation. The influence of pH was also studied, showing that the optimum deposition process occurred at pH 7. A scanning electron microscopy energy-dispersive X-ray analysis system (SEM-EDX) was also used to observe the morphology of the deposited tin. It is confirmed that Sn (II) has been successfully deposited by the cathodic reduction of Sn (II) ions. Lastly, the electrogenerative process was also used to recover tin from wastewater samples, and satisfactory results of more than 80% recovery were obtained.

 

Keywords: electrogenerative process, electrodeposition, electrode, tin

 

Abstrak

Kewujudan timah boleh menjadi toksik dan menimbulkan risiko yang ketara kepada alam sekitar dan kesihatan jika tidak dirawat dengan betul atau diolah dengan baik daripada air dan air sisa sebelum disingkirkan. Salah satu kaedah elektrokimia untuk memulih timah daripada persekitaran akueus adalah dengan menggunakan proses elektrogeneratif. Dalam proses ini, suatu tindak balas kimia berlaku secara spontan di dalam sel galvanik dimana penurunan timah berlaku di katod dan pengoksidaan zink berlaku di anod tanpa bekalan tenaga daripada luar. Dalam kajian ini, karbon serat dan zink digunakan sebagai elektrod dalam penyediaan sel kelompok bagi mendapatkan timah daripada larutan kloridanya. Proses pemulihan secara elektrogeneratif dioptimumkan dengan fokus khusus kepada parameter-parameter utama seperti rawatan elektrod, kepekatan awal timah, masa pengendapan, pH dan pengaruh oksigen. Morfologi dan komposisi elektrod yang dirawat turut dianalisis. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa kepekatan awal Sn (II) 50 mg/L adalah kepekatan ideal dalam memulih lebih daripada 96% timah selepas 4 jam beroperasi. Kesan pH juga telah dikaji dan menunjukkan bahawa proses peendapan optimum telah berlaku pada pH 7. Sistem analisis sinar-X penyebaran tenaga mikroskop elektron pengimbasan (SEM-EDX) juga digunakan untuk memerhati morfologi timah yang diendapkan. Ini dibuktikan bahawa Sn (II) telah berjaya diendapkan melalui penurunan katodik ion Sn (II) di katod. Akhir sekali, proses elektrogeneratif juga diaplikasikan untuk pemulihan timah daripada sampel air sisa dan keputusan yang memberangsangkan iaitu lebih daripada 80% pemulihan semula telah diperolehi.

 

Kata kunci: proses elektrogeneratif, pengelektroendapan, elektrod, timah

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