The effects of chloride ions on the electrowinning of nickel from sulfate electrolytes

In this work, the effects of chloride ions on the electrowinning of nickel from sulfate electrolytes has been studied. Specifically, the influence of the chloride ion concentration in the range of 0-1000 mg/L on the current efficiency, and power consumption of electrowinning, surface morphology, and preferred orientation of nickel deposits have been determined. The current efficiency increased while the power consumption decreased in the presence of chloride ions over the concentration range studied, the maximum being 1000 mg/L. X-ray diffraction analysis of the nickel deposits produced from electrolytes with chloride ions indicated the presence of (111), (200), (220), (311), (400), (331), and (222) orientation, with a slight (200) and (220) preferred orientation. By using scanning electron microscopy changes in the surface morphology and appearance of the nickel deposits were also observed as a result of chloride ion additions.