The Significant Effect of Supporting Electrolytes on the Galvanic Deposition of Metallic Rhenium
Huazhen Cao, Lilong Hu, Huibin Zhang, Guangya Hou, Yiping Tang, Guoqu Zheng
Abstract
The effects of a supporting electrolyte (Na 2 SO 4 ) on the galvanic deposition of metallic rhenium from acidic ammonium perrhenate aqueous solution were investigated. The results show that the supporting electrolyte plays an important role in the galvanic deposition of metallic rhenium. The main product in the more concentrated NH 4 ReO 4 solution is only rhenium oxides in the absence of supporting electrolyte due to substantial hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the introduction of a supporting electrolyte enhances the activation energy of the HER, resulting in the formation of metallic rhenium. The current efficiency is as high as 31.4% under optimized conditions, which is far above the values previously reported.