Oxide fraction of industrial zinc ash from hot dip galvanizing was characterized in terms of composition and leaching behaviour in 10% sulfuric acid solution. Waste product contained about 68% Zn, 6% Cl, 3% Al, 1% Fe, 0.7% Si, 0.5% Pb and minor percentages of other metals (Mn, Cu, Ti etc.). It consisted mainly of zinc oxide contaminated with metallic zinc, zinc hydroxide chloride and silica. Dissolution of the metals from the material was determined as a function of solid to liquid ratio (50-150 kg/m3), temperature (20°C and 35°C) and agitation rate (300 and 900 rpm). The best results (50 g/dm3 Zn(II) at 78% zinc recovery) were obtained for 100 kg/m3 and the temperature of 20°C. Increase in the agitation rate had weak effect on the zinc yield. The final solutions were contaminated mainly by Fe(II, III) ions. Leaching of the material was an exothermic process with the reaction heat of about 800 kJ/kg.

This paper presents a method of synthesizing copper powders by electrochemical method with the use of a rotating working electrode. The influence of the rotation speed of the working electrode, the current density, the concentration of copper ions, and the addition of ethylene glycol on the shape, size, and size distribution of the obtained powders were investigated. Properties of the synthesized powders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD). It has been shown that it is possible to obtain copper powders with a size of 1 µm by an electrochemical method using the rotary cathode, in sulphate bath with addition of ethylene glycol as a surfactant. Increasing current density causes a decrease in the average size of the obtained powder particles. The addition of 2.5% of ethylene glycol prevents the formation of dendritic powders. The change in the concentration of copper ions in the range from 0.01 to 0.15 mol/dm3 in the electrolyte did not show any significant effect on the size of obtained particles. However, higher concentrations of copper limiting the presence of dendritic-shape particles. Changing the speed of rotation of the electrode affects both the size and the shape of synthesized copper powder. For the rotational speed of the electrode of 115 rpm, the obtained powders have a size distribution in the range of 0-3 µm and an average particle size of 1 µm. The particles had a polygonal shape with an agglomeration tendency.