Electrolytic production of copper from chalcopyrite
Name
Cu electrochemical opinion_revised_v2_final.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
259.23 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
539fbfced778379f7b94c92189fd6cd5
Author(s)
Daehn, Katrin
Allanore, Antoine
Date Issued
May 2020
Journal
Current Opinion in Electrochemistry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Daehn, Katrin and Antoine Allanore. "Electrolytic production of copper from chalcopyrite." Current Opinion in Electrochemistry 22 (August 2020): 110-119.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
The transition to renewable energy infrastructure necessitates rapid growth in copper production, averaging at least 3.5% annually to 2050. The current smelting–converting–electrorefining route must be revisited considering these future prospects as ore grades deplete and the costs to mitigate emissions to the environment increase. Here, we investigate electrolytic alternatives, reviewing the background and recent developments for four classes of electrolytes to directly decompose the most important industrial copper mineral, chalcopyrite: aqueous solutions, ionic liquids, molten salts, and molten sulfides. These electrolytes are discussed in the framework of electrochemical engineering, as applied to the electrolytic decomposition of chalcopyrite. A vision is proposed in which an electrolytic technique, integrated with low cost and sustainable power, enables the production of unprecedented annual tonnages of copper from low-grade chalcopyrite, with valuable by-products and enhanced selectivity for impurities.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
MIT Materials Research Laboratory
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coelec.2020.04.011
