An Old Technique with A Promising Future: Recent Advances in the Use of Electrodeposition for Metal Recovery

Abstract

Although the first published works on electrodeposition dates from more than one century ago (1905), the uses of this technique in the recovery of metals are attracting an increasing interest from the scientific community in the recent years. Moreover, the intense use of metals in electronics and the necessity to assure a second life of these devices in a context of circular economy, have increased the interest of the scientific community on electrodeposition, with almost 3000 works published per year nowadays. In this review, we aim to revise the most relevant and recent publications in the application of electrodeposition for metal recovery. These contributions have been classified into four main groups of approaches: (1) treatment and reuse of wastewater; (2) use of ionic liquids; (3) use of bio-electrochemical processes (microbial fuel cells and microbial electrolysis cells) and (4) integration of electrodeposition with other processes (bioleaching, adsorption, membrane processes, etc.). This would increase the awareness about the importance of the technology and would serve as a starting point for anyone that aims to start working in the field.

An overview of metals extraction and recovery from industrial wastewater sludge

“…However, the ability to recover Cu and Pb is reduced by standard electrodeposition. [107] Since electrodeposition is a single technique that recovers Cu from waste materials, further research should be done to find the ideal conditions. Fogarasi et al [94] explored the electrochemical process for the recovery of Cu and Au enrichment in electronic waste.…”

Copper Deposition on Au(111) in a Deep Eutectic Solvent: An In Situ STM Study**

“…Copper is a cheap and important metal exhibiting excellent electrical and thermal conductivities, superior mechanical and anticorrosion properties, as well as catalytic activities, [1][2][3][4][5] and has a wide range of practical applications in fields such as microelectronics, [6,7] materials [8,9] and energy sciences and technologies. [10][11][12] Electrodeposition is one of powerful means of manufacturing Cu for various purposes such as electroplating with high aspect ratio, [6,13] formation of functional thin films, and creation of nanoparticles, [14,15] which are fulfilled through basic processes such as nucleation and growth and full of scientific problems. [16] Electrolyte compositions, including solvents, [17,18] Cu salts, [19] and additives [20] can have significant impact on Cu electrodeposition behavior, leading to different morphologies of Cu deposits.…”

A classical modelling of abandoned mine tailings' bioleaching by an autochthonous microbial culture

“…Because of the problems described, it is necessary to implement remediation technologies able to remove the pollutants and, when possible, to recover the valuable resources contained within the frame of the circular economy (Delgado et al, 2021).…”