Dissolution of nickel hydroxide in ammoniacal aqueous solutions

The dissolution of nickel hydroxide in ammoniacal solutions was investigated to develop a new recycling process for nickel-metal hydride batteries. The effects of temperature, total ammonia concentration, and pH of the solution were examined in the range of 30 °C to 60 °C, 3.0 to 5.0 M, and 9.0 to 10.7, respectively. All dissolution-time curves showed sigmoidal shapes, which could be approximately expressed by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Yerofeev-Kolmogrov (JMAYK) equation. The hydroxide particles were pitted, and some of them were broken into fragments in the course of the dissolution. An increase in the surface area of the hydroxide particles due to the formation of pits and fragmentation seemed to be the reason for the acceleration of dissolution in the early stage. The surface area of the hydroxide was measured by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, and the dissolution rate per surface area was determined. The activation energy for the dissolution was obtained as 100±10 kJ mol−1, which confirmed that the dissolution was controlled by chemical reactions at the hydroxide/liquid interface. The dissolution rate was increased by the increase in ammonia concentration, and the highest rate was observed at pH ca. 10.