Recovery and reuse of Ni(II) from rinsewater of electroplating industries

Discharge of nickel compounds, which may occur in both liquid and solid phases, can cause severe environmental problems. In this work, 'point of source' treatment strategy is followed and reduced the nickel content of rinsewater to about less than 1 mg L-1 by ion-exchange method using a packed column involving batch recirculation mode of operation and to recovered Ni(II) content by desorption. The treated water could be recycled for rinsing operation. The nickel from resin is first precipitated as nickel hydroxide to synthesize positive active material and that was used in Nickel/Metal hydride cell. The performances in terms of electrochemical utilization of nickel hydroxide, specific capacity as a function of discharge current density and cycle life were examined and the nickel hydroxide electrode with 5% CaCO3 addition, having 200 mAh g(-1) specific capacity, could be subjected to charge/discharge cycles at C/5 rate for more than 200 cycles Without the capacity fading. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.