Search

The micro-size flake silver powders were prepared through wet-chemical reduction method by using a micro-jet reactor. Herein ascorbic acid was used as a reducing agent, and sulfuric acid was used as a stabilizer. And the lauric acid was used as a dispersing agent to prevent particles’ agglomeration. The micro-jet reactor collides the two solutions together and uniformly mixes outside the reactor, to avoid the problem of clogging in the microchannel. The effects of dispersant addition and micro-jet flow rate on the morphology, particle size, and other parameters of silver powder is investigated in the present work. Interestingly, the addition of dispersant agent and stabilizer have a significant impact on the morphology and parameter of the silver particles. Under the conditions of micro-jet flow rate of 50 mL·min−1, sulfuric acid addition amount of 2%, and lauric acid addition amount of 0.8% by the weight of silver nitrate, a kind of flake silver powders with 4.40–4.70 μm can be prepared. The volume resistivity of the silver paste prepared from the obtained flake silver powders is in the range of 1.4–1.6 × 10−4 Ω·cm−1, which meets the application test requirements of conductive silver paste.

In traditional large-scale industrial applications of solvent extraction, there are some limitations such as low extraction efficiency, emulsification, co-extraction, and potential safety hazards. Recently, the application of microfluidic technology in solvent extraction has been dedicated to avoid the above problems effectively. However, manufacturing microchannels becomes a key problem before the application of such a new technology. In this article, the design and fabrication of a “Y”-shaped microreactor by using a three-dimensional (3D) printer, and its feasibility for extraction and separation, is illustrated. The extraction performance of a “Y”-shaped microreactor was investigated by carrying out the extraction of In3+ and Fe3+ from a sulfate solution under different experimental conditions. When the residence time was 210 s, the volume fraction of extractant (D2EHPA) was 30%, and the initial pH value of the aqueous solution was 0.7, the extraction rate of In3+ and the separation coefficient βIn/Fe were 98.07% and 1593, respectively. Remarkably, the handling capacity of the 3D-printed “Y” microreactor presented in this work with a channel length of 36 mm was superior, whereas the extraction rate of In3+ was very close to that of the previously reported microchip with a channel length of 120 mm.

A comparison study about the extraction and separation of Cu2+ and Ni2+ with Lix984N in a microchannel reactor and separating funnel has been conducted. The results showed that, in the microchannel reactor, the overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient of copper was 20 times that of nickel, whereas in the separating funnel, it was only 2 times that of nickel. In addition, the separation coefficient of copper and nickel in the microchannel reactor was 5 times that of the conventional one. Typically, at initial pH=2.5, contact time 1.95 s, volume fraction of extractant Lix984N 15% and within 1.9 g l−1 nickel ion concentration, the extraction rate of copper was higher than 95%, but the nickel was hardly extracted. In comparison, it needed almost 50 s to reach a Cu extraction of 95% in the separation funnel, with more than 5% Ni co-extraction rate. Although the microfluid extraction showed excellent extraction performance, there exists a need to further improve its processing capacity to apply it to industrial production. Furthermore, scaling up the microreactor has become increasingly promising under the fast developing 3D printing technology.

Microwave-assisted heating technology has become a popular alternative to conventional heating technologies because of its many advantages. However, the matching performance of microwave heating system is of particular concern because it provides an important index of the utilization efficiency of microwave energy. In this work, a new microwave heating system is designed by the theory of optical resonator in first. Then the comprehensive analysis of the mutual coupling of high sensitive geometrical and material parameters were investigated based on this new microwave heating system at 2.45 GHz. It is demonstrated that the thickness of materials dramatically influences microwave energy absorption efficiency and should be carefully considered and perhaps given priority. Moreover, it is shown that matching performance is the best when the titanium concentrates thickness at about 0.075 m.

In this work, microwave energy is used for preparing a granular red mud (GRM) adsorbent made of red mud with different binders, such as starch, sodium silicate and cement. The effects of the preparation parameters, such as binder type, binder addition ratio, microwave heating temperature, microwave power and holding time, on the absorption property of GRM are investigated. The BET surface area, strength, pore structure, XRD and SEM of the GRM absorbent are analyzed. The results show that the microwave roasting has a good effect on pore-making of GRM, especially when using organic binder. Both the BET surface area and the strength of GRM obtained by microwave heating are significantly higher than that by conventional heating. The optimum conditions are obtained as follows: 6:100 (w/w) of starch to red mud ratio, microwave roasting with a power of 2.6 kW at 500℃ for holding time of 30 min. The BET surface area, pore volume and average pore diameter of GRM prepared at the optimum conditions are 15.58 m2/g, 0.0337 cm3/g and 3.1693 A0, respectively.

Removal of chlorine (Cl) from the CuCl residue in the process of zinc hydrometallurgy is of great importance to improve the process economics. The current processing methods result in generation of large quantities of polluted discharge necessitating waste treatment systems. The present work attempts to de-chlorinate the CuCl residue through thermal treatment with application of microwave, towards which the effect of the major experimental factors such as roasting temperature, heating duration and particle size of samples on the process has been investigated. And the changes of Gibbs free energy (ΔG) of the dechlorination reactions are calculated which show that: 1) CuCl can react with H2O and air to produce CuO and HCl(g); 2) CuCl can be oxidized by air into CuO and Cl2 would be released. The tail gas chromatography, XRD and SEM-EDS analysis results of samples before and after microwave roasting verified the thermodynamics study results. Thus, the process of dechlorination by microwave roasting technology is feasible, and the tail gas can be mainly HCl(g) and air which can be absorbed with water and produce hydrochloride easily.

Conventional extraction equipment has many problems like a long mixing time, a large factory area occupation, a large amount of organic solvent consumption and so on. In this paper, a micro solvent extraction system for the extraction of Nd(III) was investigated to solve the above issues. The initial aqueous pH 4.0 and saponification rate 40% of 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid-2-ethylhexyl ester (P507) were selected as the optimal experimental conditions. The extraction equilibrium was quickly achieved within 1.5 s, without any mechanical mixing in a narrow channel (100 μm in width and 120 μm in depth) at a volumetric flow rate from 5.55×10-10 m3/s to 1.53×10-9 m3/s. The extraction behavior of Nd(III) in the microreactor is an interface chemical reaction or the diffusion rate of the Nd-complex in the organic phase at low pH and [P507], while the extraction rate is controlled by the rate of metal diffusion in the aqueous phase at high pH and [P507], and the apparent mass transfer rate is up to 3.29×10-5 mol/m2·s. The extracted complexes are determined by the infrared (IR) spectrum method, and confirm that the extraction is via a cation exchange mechanism in the microreactor.

The microreactor has been developed for a wide range of applications because of many advantages, such as high mass transfer efficiency, low energy consumption and the closed and safe system. The application of microreactors in the traditional hydrometallurgy extraction process is expected to overcome difficulties such as co-extraction of impurities, large consumption of extractant and hidden fire risks. In this study, the extraction and separation efficiency of In3+ from a complex sulfate solution containing impurities, such as Fe2+ and Zn2+, were studied. The microreactor extraction was carried out in a Pyrex microchip, and the organic phase was prepared with the extractant di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) diluted in 260# kerosene. The results showed that with only 0.55 s contact between the organic and aqueous phases, the extraction ratio of In3+ can reach 90.80%, while only 0.16% of Fe2+ and 0.22% of Zn2+ were co-extracted; the average mass transfer speed of In3+ was calculated as high as 0.34 g·m-2·s-1. Compared with the traditional mixing settler process, microreactor extraction has advantages of higher extraction ratio of In3+, lower trend of co-extraction of the impurities and emulsification.

Dielectric properties are some of the main parameters of materials, determining their interaction with electromagnetic energy during microwave heating. The dielectric properties of spent automobile catalyst were measured by using the resonance cavity perturbation technique from room temperature to 800°C at 915 MHz and 2450 MHz. The effects of temperature and frequency on the dielectric constant, dielectric loss factor, loss tangent, and penetration depth were studied. The results indicate that spent automobile catalyst is weakly polar, making it difficult to transform electromagnetic energy into heat. The relaxation time and conductivity obtained by numerical calculations further explain from the microlevel that spent automobile catalyst cannot dissipate electromagnetic energy through dipole loss or conduction loss under microwave irradiation. This work describes an effective way to explore the dielectric heating mechanism and a basis for understanding the interactions between microwaves and spent automobile catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In traditional large-scale industrial applications of solvent extraction, there are some limitations such as low extraction efficiency, emulsification, co-extraction, and potential safety hazards. Recently, the application of microfluidic technology in solvent extraction has been dedicated to avoid the above problems effectively. However, manufacturing microchannels becomes a key problem before the application of such a new technology. In this article, the design and fabrication of a "Y"-shaped microreactor by using a three-dimensional (3D) printer, and its feasibility for extraction and separation, is illustrated. The extraction performance of a "Y"-shaped microreactor was investigated by carrying out the extraction of In3+ and Fe3+ from a sulfate solution under different experimental conditions. When the residence time was 210 s, the volume fraction of extractant (D2EHPA) was 30%, and the initial pH value of the aqueous solution was 0.7, the extraction rate of In3+ and the separation coefficient βIn/Fe were 98.07% and 1593, respectively. Remarkably, the handling capacity of the 3D-printed "Y" microreactor presented in this work with a channel length of 36 mm was superior, whereas the extraction rate of In3+ was very close to that of the previously reported microchip with a channel length of 120 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]