Physical, static, and kinetic analysis of the electrochemical deposition process for the recovery of heavy metal from simulated industrial wastewater

Abstract The electrochemical deposition has been used to recover lead, a harmful heavy metal, from simulated industrial wastewater. At constant potential, it is deposited onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrodes. Chronoamperometry was used to track its kinetic electrodeposition processes in situ for advanced nucleation stages at various temperatures. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray techniques were used to investigate and characterize the deposits. The results show that the current density, as well as the density of the deposits, is strongly influenced by temperature. In this paper, we examine the relationship between experimental results and theoretical processes of lead deposits using 2D and 3D kinetic growth models.