o:250 Electrorefining process of the non-commercial copper anode sr Abstract: The electrorefining process of the non-commercial Cu anodes was tested on the enlarged laboratory equipment over 72 h. Cu anodes with Ni content of 5 or 10 wt.% and total content of Pb, Sn, and Sb of about 1.5 wt.% were used for the tests. The real waste solution of sulfuric acid character was a working electrolyte of different temperatures (T1 = 63 2 C and T2 = 73 2 C). The current density of 250 A/m2 was the same as in the commercial process. Tests were confirmed that those anodes can be used in the commercial copper electrorefining process based on the fact that the elements from anodes were dissolved, the total anode passivation did not occur, and copper is deposited onto cathodes. The masses of cathode deposits confirmed that the Cu ions from the electrolyte were also deposited onto cathodes. The concentration of Cu, As, and Sb ions in the electrolyte was decreased. At the same time, the concentration of Ni ions was increased by a maximum of up to 129.27 wt.%. The major crystalline phases in the obtained anode slime, detected by the X-ray diffraction analyses, were PbSO4, Cu3As, SbAsO4, Cu2O, As2O3, PbO, SnO, and Sb2O3. Received: 15 June 2021 Accepted: 23 July 2021 Published: 26 July 2021 Keywords: electrorefining; non-commercial copper anode; waste solution; high content; Ni; Pb; Sn; Sb; passivation; anode slime 91552100 65267977 1552099 10.3390/met11081187 2022-05-11T11:39:46.884Z 44 yes 46 Radmila Marković Institut za rudarstvo i metalurgiju Bor ; Mining and metallurgy Institute Bor 0000-0001-9754-1150 Vesna Krstić Institut za rudarstvo i metalurgiju Bor ; Mining and metallurgy Institute Bor person 0000-0002-1110-0547 Bernd Friedrich IME Process Metallurgy and Metal Recycling, Aachen person 0000-0002-2934-2034 Srećko Stopić IME Process Metallurgy and Metal Recycling, Aachen person Jasmina Stevanović Univerzite u Beogradu, Institut za hemiju, tehnologiju i metalurgiju (IHTM) ; University of Belgrade, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy person Zoran Stevanović Institut za rudarstvo i metalurgiju Bor ; Mining and metallurgy Institute Bor person Vesna Marjanović Institut za rudarstvo i metalurgiju Bor ; Mining and metallurgy Institute Bor person application/pdf 2055403 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:250 no yes 16 70 92000001 71A03 Metals 11 1187 2021