A thermodynamic and kinetic study of efficient selenium removal from highly acidic TeCl4 solution using tellurium powder

IF 4.8 2区材料科学 Q1 METALLURGY & METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING

Hydrometallurgy Pub Date : 2025-03-12 DOI:10.1016/j.hydromet.2025.106470

Wenqiu Wang, Huazhen Cao, Weilun Qian, Anyang Tang, Junfeng Kong, Lining Yu, Zhengzheng Liu, Huibin Zhang, Guoqu Zheng

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

High-purity tellurium is in high demand for applications in high-tech fields such as semiconductors and solar cells. To produce high-purity tellurium, one of the challenges is to effectively reduce selenium content of telluride (IV) solution. This study reports the thermodynamic and kinetic analysis for selenium removal by tellurium powder substitution in a TeCl₄ solution. The thermodynamic analysis revealed that the separation window of tellurium and selenium significantly varies with pH. Solutions of weak acidity or basicity are unfavorable for the separation of these two elements. In highly acidic systems, tellurium coexists with selenite ions in the form of Te⁴⁺ ions, and the redox equilibrium potential values for E(Te⁴⁺/Te) and E(H₂SeO₃/Se) significantly differ, indicating the thermodynamic feasibility of selenium removal through tellurium powder replacement. Under optimal reaction condition, the selenium removal efficiency in highly acidic tellurium tetrachloride could reach ∼99.9 % with a residual selenium concentration of 0.1 mg/L. Kinetic studies indicated that selenium removal by tellurium powder substitution is primarily controlled by a chemical reaction with an apparent activation energy of 84.6 kJ/mol. This study provides a simple but efficient method for of selenium impurity removal toward high-purity tellurium.

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来源期刊

Hydrometallurgy 工程技术-冶金工程

CiteScore

9.50

自引率

6.40%

发文量

144

审稿时长

3.4 months

期刊介绍： Hydrometallurgy aims to compile studies on novel processes, process design, chemistry, modelling, control, economics and interfaces between unit operations, and to provide a forum for discussions on case histories and operational difficulties. Topics covered include: leaching of metal values by chemical reagents or bacterial action at ambient or elevated pressures and temperatures; separation of solids from leach liquors; removal of impurities and recovery of metal values by precipitation, ion exchange, solvent extraction, gaseous reduction, cementation, electro-winning and electro-refining; pre-treatment of ores by roasting or chemical treatments such as halogenation or reduction; recycling of reagents and treatment of effluents.