What chemicals are used in electrowinning?

Answer 1

It depends on why you are using electrowinning. The "chemicals" are called the electrolyte. It can range from pure chemicals and solutions to industrial waste water. For example, printed circuit board fabricators use it to remove metallic ions from concentrated rinse water, spent process solutions, and ion exchange regenerant. An electrowinning unit consists of a rectifier and a reaction chamber that houses anodes and cathodes. In the simplest design, a set of cathodes and anodes are set in the reaction chamber containing the electrolyte. When the unit is energized, metal ions are reduced onto the cathode. The rate at which metal can be recovered (i.e., plated onto the cathode) from solutions depends on several factors, including the concentration of metal in the electrolyte, the size of the unit in terms of current and cathode area, and the type(s) of metal being recovered.