Effect of fluidization on mass transfer behaviour in the electrodeposition on parallel plate electrode

Abstract

The present work has been undertaken to study mass transfer rate in a vertical paralIel plate cell using copper electrode and acidified (sulfuric acid) copper sulphate solution. It has been aimedto study the natureof depositionduringcopper electrofollIling. The mass transfer rates under different hydrodynamic conditions within the celI were obtained measuring the current at different sections of the cathode. Mass transfer data were generated using limiting current technique. Flow rate was varied in the range of 5.8 liUmin to 16.3 liUmin and initial bed height was taken to be 6 cm, 9 cm 12 cm and 15 cm. Glass beads of three different diameters 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm were used to investigate the effectof particlesizeon mass transfer rate. Results were obtained for wide range of flow rates of the electrolyte and overalI mass transfer correlations were obtained for the celIo The flow rate, initial bed height and bed voidage for maximum mass transfer were found out. The results were correlated and comparedwiththe relevantcorrelationfound in the literature. An extensive literature survey of the basic principles governing the theory behind different electrochemicalprocesses and electrochemicalmass transferhas been done in this study.