Technospheric Mining of Cobalt and Nickel from Waste Nickel Furnace Slag by Ascorbic Acid-Assisted Citric Acid Leaching
With the growing demand for critical metals, extraction from secondary sources such as slag, tailings, and end-of-life materials has become inevitable. Processing from such secondary sources is described as technospheric mining. Technospheric mining is a broad term for extracting valuable resources...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Recycling |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/10/2/43 |
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| Summary: | With the growing demand for critical metals, extraction from secondary sources such as slag, tailings, and end-of-life materials has become inevitable. Processing from such secondary sources is described as technospheric mining. Technospheric mining is a broad term for extracting valuable resources from anthropogenic materials that are currently excluded from the material flow. The study utilises technospheric mining to extract cobalt and nickel from nickel furnace slag using organic acids such as ascorbic and citric acid. The experiments were designed using one variable at a time (OVAT) to optimise the different parameters: temperature, time, particle size, and reagent concentration. A maximum recovery of 79% Co and 80% Ni were obtained by leaching the nickel furnace slag using 0.5 mol/L citric acid and 0.5 mol/L ascorbic acid for 6 h at 80 °C. It is proposed that citric acid leaches the surface and ascorbic acid acts as a reducing agent, thereby reducing the slag matrix and leaching the metals trapped in it. The results show that treating nickel furnace slag via a mixture of organic acids is promising, as it is environmentally friendly. Retreating this material would reduce the net waste generated and aid in building a circular economy. |
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| ISSN: | 2313-4321 |