Effect of magnetic flux-densities of up to 0.1 Tesla on copper electrodeposition

The effect of magnetic flux densities (B) between 0.0 and 0.1 Tesla on cathode and anode overpotentials, cell voltage and electrodeposit quality was determined for a lab-scale copper electrowinning cell which operates at industrial current density values. Cell voltage decreases with increasing B. The cathodic overpotential decreases by 30 % when B increases from 0.0 to 0.1 T The anodic overpotential also decreases with increasing B, but this effect is six times less than the corresponding effect on the cathodic overpotential. Cathodic effects can be predicted by an expression derived from electrochemical kinetics and magnetohydrodynamic theory. Anodic effects cannot be predicted in the same way. The size of grains and intergranular voids decreases and the surface of the electrodeposit becomes smoother as B increases, which means that, in the studied conditions, the quality of the produced copper deposits improves.