Comparison Between Electrolysis and Reduction for Treatment of Spent Electroless Nickel Plating Bath

There are lots of residual nickel and organic compounds in the spent electroless nickel plating bath. It not only wastes resource but also causes environmental pollution if the wastewater is discharged without treatment. In this paper, electrolytic method and reduction method for treating spent electroless nickel plating bath were compared. The factors studied included reaction time, pH, temperature, effectiveness and cost. It was found that the recovery rate of nickel by reduction was 99.9% under the condition ofpH 6, 50℃ for 10 min. The purity of reclaimed nickel was 66.1%. This treatment needed about 16 g NaBH4 for a liter spent solution, which cost RMB 64 Yuan. For electrolysis method, with pH 7.6, 80℃, 0.45 A (current intensity) for 2 h, the recovery rate reached 97.3%. The purity was 88.5% for the reclaimed nickel. Moreover, it was found that through electrolysis, the value of TOC (Total Organic Carbon) decreased from 114 to 3.08 g·L-1 with removal rate of 97.3%. The main cost of electrolysis came from electric energy. It cost about 0.09 kWh (less than RMB 0.1 Yuan) per liter wastewater. Compared with reduction, electrolysis had more advantages, so the priority of selection should be given to the electrolysis method for the treatment of spent electroless nickel plating bath.