Extraction and separation of nickel and cobalt from saprolite laterite ore were studied by using a method of microwave-assisted hydrothermal leaching and chemical deposition. The effects of leaching temperature and time on the extraction efficiencies of Ni2＋ and Co2＋ were investigated in detail under microwave conditions. It is shown that the extraction efficiencies of Ni2＋ and Co2＋ from the ore pre-roasted at 300℃ for 5 h were 89.19% and 61.89% when the leaching temperature and time were about 70℃ and 60 min, respectively. For the separation process of Ni and Co, the separation of main chemical components was performed by adjusting the pH values of sulfuric leaching solutions using a NaOH solution based on the different pH values of precipitation for metal hydroxides. The final separation efficiencies of Ni and Co were 77.29% and 65.87%, respectively. Furthermore, the separation efficiencies of Fe of 95.36% and Mg of 92.2% were also achieved at the same time.
Yan ZhaoJian-ming GaoYi YueBen PengZai-qing QueMin GuoMei Zhang
Nanostructured Fe-doped titanium dioxide was synthesized from titanium containing electric furnace molten slag （TCEFMS） by using an alkali fusion, followed by a hydrolyzation-acidolysis-cMcination route. The effects of Mkali/slag mass ratio, calcinating temperature, calcinating time, and water/slag mass ratio on the extraction efficiency and purity of products were systematically studied in this paper. It is indicated that the best extraction efficiency of nanostructured Fe- doped titanium dioxide is 99.35%, when the molten slag is calcinated at 700℃ for 1 h with the mass ratio of alkali/molten slag of 1.5：1. The influence of alkali/slag mass ratio on the photocatalytic activity of final products was evaluated by the photodegradation of methyl blue under visible light irradiation. A maximum photodegradation efficiency of 88.12% over 30 min was achieved under the optimum conditions.
Nickel nanoparticles （〈10 nm） were success fully synthesized using a reductive method of nickel chloride with sodium borohydride in the ethanol/poly vinylpyrrolidone （PVP） system. The effects of three fac tors, such as the concentration of the nickel ions, the time of reaction, and the amount of PVP （surfactant）, were discussed. The possible growth process of the particles and optimum reactive conditions was also investigated. The result of transmission electron microscopy （TEM） reveals that these nickel nanoparticles are spherical. The average diameter could be controlled as 25 nm under selected conditions. Highresolution TEM and energydispersive spectroscopy results indicates that the nickel nanoparticles are pure. The UVvisible light absorption spectrum shows that the peaks of nickel nanoparticles moves toward the short wavelength along with the decrease of sizes.
Large-scale single-crystalline SnO2 nanocauliflowers were successfully synthesized using a hydrothermal growth method without any template. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, field-emission scanning electron microscopy （FE-SEM）, en- ergy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDS）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and selected area electron diffraction （SAED）. FE-SEM images show that the as-grown SnO2 nanocauliflowers are constructed of tetragonal prisms with a width of 500-600 nm. XRD, EDS, and SAED results indicate that the as-grown SnO2 nanocauliflowers are single crystalline with the tetragonal rutile crystalline structure. The growth mechanism of SnO2 nanocauliflowers is also preliminarily discussed on the basis of different Sn（OH） 62- concentrations, and it is found that Sn（OH） 62- concentration plays an important role in determining the shape of the prepared SnO2. Room temperature photoluminescence was further carried out on SnO2 nanocauliflowers to investigate their optical properties. An intense blue luminescence centered at a wavelength of 424 nm is observed in the as-grown SnO2 nanocauliflowers.
