New electochemical method of obtaining homogeneous, fine grained metal power

摘要

A great demand for fine grained metal powders provided an incentive to develop a new method of the electrolytíc production of metal powders, which would make it possible to control the electrocrystallisation process. The method consists in the use of a cathode of a special construction, i.e. in the form of an endless moving belt. The belt moves by means of a gear on two drums, one of which is in the electrolyser and the other in the receiver. By setting the appropriate speed of the belt cathode's feed through the electrolyser, it is possible to regulate the time of nucleation and the growth of powder grains. The use of cathode in the form of a moving belt also made it possible to study cathodic process mechanism using polarisation measurements under the conditions of constant area renewal of the electrode's surface. The precise knowledge of the occurrence range of the concentration polarisation is especially important during the process of obtaining a metal in the powder form. It was found that the possibility of the constant area renewal of the surface has a positive effect on the homogeneity of the metal powder