Kunming Institute of Precious Metals

Situated in Kunming,Yunnan Province,the institute is a scientific research organiza-tion with a history of fifty years.It is nowaffiliated with the China National NonferrousMetals Industry Corporation.At the beginning of the nineteen sixties,the institute commenced research workin the field of precious metals.It has sincethen developed and extended greatly,andits activities now cover various fields ofprecious metals science and technology,including the comprehensive utilization

Facile electrochemical surface-alloying and etching of Au wires to enable high-performance substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering

Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy(SERS)is a nondestructive technique for rapid detection of analytes even at the single-molecule level.However,highly sensitive and reliable SERS substrates are mostly fabricated with complex nanofabrication techniques,greatly restricting their practical applications.A convenient electrochemical method for transforming the surface of commercial gold wires/foils into silver-alloyed nanostructures is demonstrated in this report.Au substrates are treated with repetitive anodic and cathodic bias in an electrolyte of thiourea,in a one-pot one-step manner.X-rays absorption fine structure(XAFS)spectroscopy confirms that the AuAg alloy is induced at the surface.The unique AuAg alloyed surface nanostructures are particularly advantageous when served as SERS substrates,enabling a remarkably sensitive detection of Rhodamine B(a detection limit of 10^(-14)M,and uniform strong response throughout the substrates at 10^(-12)M).

Experiment Research on the Enrichment of Precious Metals from Nickel-copper-iron Matte

According to the chemical and phase composition of the nickel-copper-iron matte containing precious metals and the progress in enrichment of precious metals from the nickel-copper-iron matte containing precious metals at home and abroad, this paper put forward the process route of enrichment of precious metals and selectively leaching of base metals from the nickel-copper-iron matte by sulfuric acid and sodium hypochlorite. The effects of particle size, leaching temperature, leaching time, amount of sulfuric acid and sodium hypochlorite on the leaching rate of nickel, cobalt, copper and iron are mainly discussed. The results show that raw material particle size has significantly effects on the leaching rate of base metals, high leaching rate of base metals and enrichment of precious metals are obtained with the suitable particle size. Through the experiments, the reasonable experiment parameters and conditions were determined as fellows: particle size of-200 to +250 mesh, leaching temperature 95℃ , leaching time 5 h, sulfuric acid concentration 30%, adding amount of sodium hypochlorite 3 times of matte weight. Under these experiment parameters and conditions, the leaching rate of nickel, cobalt, copper and iron were 97.39%, 96.24%, 98.30% and 99.01%, respectively. The content of nickel, cobalt, copper, iron in the leaching residues was 8.15%, 0.23%, 1.40% and 0.24%, respectively. The content of Pt, Pd, Au, Ag and Rh in the leaching residues was 247 g/t, 521 g/t, 112 g/t, 494 g/t and 24 g/t, respectively. The content of Pt, Pd, Au, Ag and Rh in the leaching solution was <0.0005 g/L, 0.0023 g/L, 0.0007 g/L, <0.0005 g/L and 0.00017 g/L, respectively. This process has advantages as follows: a small investment, simple technology, high enrichment efficiency.

Structural Characteristics and Properties of Precious Metal Powders and Copper Powder Prepared by High-speed Centrifugal Atomization Technique

The principle and characteristics of the rapidly solidified centrifugal atomization technique are studied in present paper.It has been widely used to make fine,rapidly solidified precious metal powders for application as the electrical engineering materials,conductive coatings for electromagnetic shielding and brazing alloys.The silver powder,copper powder and some precious metal alloys powders are prepared by the new method.A comparative analysis is carried out with the conventional electrolytic silver powder and chemical deposition silver powder.The results show that rapidly solidified powders are fine and have higher solid solubility of the alloying elements,and their alloys have excellent properties in various aspects.

Research on Experimental and Application for the High Efficient Enrichment of the Low-grade Precious Metal Materials

On the basis of reviewing the progress in the high efficient enrichment from secondary resources of low grade precious metals at home and abroad, a process route of the high efficient enrichment precious metals from secondary resources of low-grade metals by adding iron oxide as the trapping agent, reducing agent, additive, mixing uniformly and grinding, pelletizing, reduction, grinding and separation, and selectively acid leaching iron has been put forward in this paper. The experiments of reduction, grinding and separation, and selectively acid leaching iron were carried out mainly. Under the decided experiment parameters and conditions, iron generated during the reduction can trap precious metals during reduction, high active alloy powders were obtained from the reduced products by grinding and separation, the concentration of precious metals was obtained by acid leaching high active alloy powders. The better enrichment effect was obtained by adopting the technical route of processing. Other low grade noble metal materials and enrichment ratio of precious metals from the materials to acid products was high through acid leaching. This process has the advantages of simple process, environmental-friendly, strong adaptability of raw materials, high concentration ratio, which was regarded as a kind of the general efficient enrichment technology of low grade precious metal materials.

Functions of Rare Earth Metals in Automobile Emission Purification Catalysts

The functions of rare earth metals in the automobile emission purification catalysts were reviewed, and it was clarified that with precious metals resources using up gradually emission regulations becoming more and more strict, rare earth metals will play more and more important roles in the high performance, and in low price automobile emission purification catalysts, they can not be substituted by other elements, for example, precious metals.

Experiment and finite element method analysis mass erosion and transfer of Ag/La_2NiO_4-based electrical contacts during operation

A uniform transient temperature field model of electrical contacts operation was found by analyzing the process of closing arc constriction resistance Joule heat ~ breaking arc. Essential parameters of Ag/La2NiO4 electrical contact material for transient temperature field calculation were obtained through tests of electrical contact experimental instrument under 18 V DC in different cur- rents, other correlation experiments, and calculation anal- ysis. The finite element method was applied to solve the transient temperature field, and the features and distribution of the transient temperature field were obtained. The condition of material erosion and mass transfer can be forecasted by those calculation results. It is beneficial to research about the lifetime of Ag/La2NiO4 electrical material.

New insight into hydroxyl-mediated NH_3 formation on the Rh-CeO_2 catalyst surface during catalytic reduction of NO by CO

Vibrational IR spectra and light‐off investigations show that NH3forms via the“hydrogen down”reaction of adsorbed CO and NO with hydroxyl groups on a CeO2support during the catalytic reduction of NO by CO.The presence of water in the reaction stream results in a significant increase in NH3selectivity.This result is due to water‐induced hydroxylation promoting NH3formation and the competitive adsorption of H2O and NO at the same sites,which inhibits the reactivity of NO reduction by NH3.

Application of modified sepiolite as reusable adsorbent for Pd(Ⅱ) sorption from acidic solutions

The adsorption characteristics and mechanisms of modified sepiolite as an adsorbent to recover Pd(Ⅱ) from acidic solutions were studied. The Pd(Ⅱ) adsorption properties were analyzed through isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic models. In addition, SEM-EDS, TEM and XPS were applied to investigating the Pd(Ⅱ) adsorption mechanisms onto modified sepiolite. The equilibrium data were well fitted to Langmuir isotherm model with maximum Pd(Ⅱ) adsorption capacity of 322.58 mg/g at 30 ℃. The kinetic data could be satisfactorily simulated by the pseudosecond order model, indicating that the rate-controlling step was chemical adsorption. 99% of Pd(Ⅱ) could be recovered using 1 g/L modified sepiolite when initial concentration of Pd(Ⅱ) was 100 mg/L. The results of reusability studies indicated the modified sepiolite had an acceptable stability and reusability. This study indicated that the modified sepiolite might be an efficient and cost-effective material for Pd(Ⅱ) recovery.

High Efficient Enrichment and Activated Dissolution of Refractory Low Grade Rh-containing Material

Aiming to the low-grade rhodium-containing waste materials, a new process was proposed to enrich and activate rhodium by smelting using iron oxide as a trapping agent and activator. A rhodium concentrate was obtained by the separation of base metals and precious metals. The concentrate was reacted with dilute aqua regia to obtain rhodium solution. The factors influencing the enrichment and activation effects were discussed in this paper. The results showed that the dissolution rate is greater than 99% under the optimum conditions. In this process, the activation of rhodium was finished in the enrichment process. The iron oxide is both a trapping agent and activator, which simplifies the process and reduce the cost.

Study on the Leaching of Pt, Pd and Rh from Spent Auto-catalysts in Various Acidities

Auto-catalysts were the largest consumers of platinum group metals and the most important secondary resources, recovery of PGMs from spent auto-catalysts by leaching with various acidities were investigated. The leaching thermodynamics of PGMs at 363 K was first discussed. At 363 K the higher the acidities of HCl, the higher the leaching recoveries of PGMs, and the sequence of leaching recovery was Pd>Pt>Rh. When H2SO4 used alone, the leaching recoveries of PGMs was low, when the acidity of H2SO4 increasing, the leaching recovery of Rh kept stable.

Influence of Cerium Addition on Microstructure and Properties of Cu-Ag Alloy in Situ Filamentary Composites

The in situ filamentary composites based on the Cu-10Ag and Cu-10Ag-Ce alloys were prepared. The microstructure and properties of the composites were studied. The effects of Ce addition on the microstructure as cast, including refining Cu grains and the Ag filaments, increasing the proportion of (Cu+Ag) eutectic and decreasing the proportion of the Ag precipitate, were researched. The average size of the Ag filaments in the composites could be approached by a formula: d=C·exp(-0.228η), here C is a coefficient related to the size of the original grains and 1500 nm for Cu-10Ag and 800 nm for Cu-10Ag-Ce. A two-stage strain strengthening effect was found for the deformed composites, that is the dislocation strengthening at low strain stage and the ultra-fine Ag filaments or interface strengthening at the high strain stage. The intermediate heat treatment at lower temperature further refined the Ag filaments and therefore improved the properties. The high strengthening rate of Ce addition on Cu-10Ag alloy attributed the refining effect to Cu grains and Ag filaments. The typical properties of the heavy deformed composites with 1 IHT reached to UTS=1500 MPa with conductivity 62% IACS for the Cu-10Ag alloy and UTS=1550 MPa with conductivity 65% IACS for the Cu-10Ag-Ce alloy, respectively.

Application of the Finite Element Method in the Glass Fiber Bushing Research

Design and optimization of bushing at present mainly use the traditional experience method.The relevant research that adopts computer simulation to carry on the operation behavior of the bushing has appeared in recent years.How to use the finite element method to research bushing was introduced in the article.Physics fields and many relevant parameters of one real bushing were calculated.Through the results of calculation,it indicate that the finite element method is very useful in bushing research of designing and optimizing.

Factors Research on the Influence of Leaching Rate of Nickel and Cobalt from Waste Superalloys with Sulfuric Acid

Unlike the reported leaching technologies of waste superalloys, the process of the “atomized spray-sulfuric acid leaching nickel and cobalt” technology was put forward in the present work according to the compositions of waste superalloys. The effects of sulfuric acid temperature, concentration, leaching time, stirring speed and size of superalloys on leaching of Ni and Co from waste superalloys have been mainly investigated, and the optimum leaching conditions were determined and reported. The leaching rates for nickel and cobalt were 96.68% and 96.63%, respectively, and the contents of nickel and cobalt in leaching slag were 6.77% and 0.96%, respectively. The obtained leaching solution containing Ni and Co could be used for production of Ni and Co products after removal.

Electrical conductivity of Cu-Ag in situ filamentary composites

The electrical conductivity of Cu-10Ag in situ filamentary composite was studied during the deformation and annealing processes. The dependence of electrical resistivity of the deformed composites on the true strain presents a two-stage change with increase of the true strain. The intermediate heat treatment and the stabilized annealing treatment to the deformed composite promote the separation of Ag precipitate, and increase the electrical conductivity. The maximum conductivity of the composite experienced the stabilizing heat treatment can reach about 97% IACS with σb≥400 MPa at 550 ℃ annealing, and reach about 70% IACS with σb≥1 250 MPa at 300 ℃ annealing. The corresponded strength of the composite was reported. The microstructure reason for the changes of the conductivity was discussed.

Study of the Material Transfer Characteristics and Surface Morphology Due to Arc Erosion of PtIr Contact Materials

By means of breaking tests on PtIr contact materials via a JF04C contact material testing machine, it was attempted to elucidate the characteristics of the various surface morphology and material transfer after the arc erosion process caused by break arc. The material transfer characteristics appeared in the experiments were concluded and analyzed. Meanwhile, the morphology of the anode and cathode surface were observed and analyzed by SEM.

THE EFFECT OF COLD DEFORMATION ON THE KINETICS OF THE SPINODAL DECOMPOSITION OF Cu-9Ni-6Sn-0.3Ce ALLOY

By means of the measurement of mechnical properties and resistivity and X-ray diffraction and transmission microscopy,the effect of cold deformation on the kinetics of spinodal decomposition of Cu-9Ni-6Sn-0.3Ce alloy was studied.The strengthening process of the cold-worked and aged alloy was found to be accelerated.Using the theory of dislocation,the strengthening in cold-worked alloy can be attributed to the acceleration of spinodal process.

Effect of CuO and SnO_(2) particle size on hot extrusion deformation of AgCuOSnO_(2):Finite element simulation and experimental study

The finite element model is established according to the experimental results,and then the experimental results are verified by simulation calculation.In terms of the combination of finite element analysis and experiment,the effect of particle size of CuO and SnO_(2) on the stress,strain and microstructure of AgCuOSnO_(2) composite during hot extrusion was studied.The results illustrate that with the decrease of particle size,the dispersion of the second phase increases gradually,while the possibility of“tail shrinkage”of the billet decreases continuously;cubic CuO will evolve to fibrosis,and the degree of fibrosis will increase with the decrease of the particle size and ring clusters.Specifically,the degree of fibrosis at the middle end of the billet is higher than that at the front end,the degree of fibrosis at the front end is higher than that at the back end,and the degree of fibrosis on the surface is higher than that in the core;part of CuO fibers will bend,and the degree of buckling strength is positively correlated with the size of particles and their annular clusters.Additionally,there is fiber CuO in the front and back end of the billet that are inconsistent with the extrusion direction,and the degree of difference was negatively correlated with the particle size.

SnO_(2)nanostructured materials used as gas sensors for the detection of hazardous and flammable gases:A review

SnO_(2)has been extensively used in the detection of various gases.As a gas sensing material,SnO_(2)has excellent physical-chemical properties,high reliability,and short adsorption-desorption time.The application of the traditional SnO_(2)gas sensor is limited due to its higher work-temperature,low gas response,and poor selectivity.Nanomaterials can significantly impact gas-sensitive properties due to the quantum size,surface,and small size effects of nanomaterials.By applying nanotechnology to the preparation of SnO_(2),the SnO_(2)nanomaterial-based sensors could show better performance,which greatly expands the application of SnO_(2)gas sensors.In this review,the preparation method of the SnO_(2)nanostructure,the types of gas detected,and the improvements of SnO_(2)gas-sensing performances via elemental modification are introduced as well as the future development of SnO_(2)is discussed.

Influence of thermomechanical processing on the structure and properties of Cu-Ag alloy in situ composites

The influences of the thermomechanical processing, including the solidification conditions, the cold deformation and the intermediate annealing treatment, on the structure and properties of the Cu-10Ag alloy in situ composite were studied in this paper. The cast structure and the structural changes in the cold deformation and intermediate annealing process were observed. The properties including the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and the electrical conductivity were determined. A two-stage strain strengthening effect for the Cu-10Ag alloy in situ filamentary composite was observed. The factors influencing the UTS and conductivity were discussed. The solidification conditions in the range of 10-1000 K/s cooling rates and the intermediate heat treatment showed obviously influence on the structure and properties on the Cu-10Ag alloy in situ filamentary composite. The typical properties of the Cu-Ag alloy in situ filamentary composites through thermomechanical processing were reported.