Discuss the extraction of the following elements: (a) Zinc (b) Nickel (c) Cadmium

Short Answer

Expert verified
Zinc is generally extracted using a roasting method which involves a few steps, including crushing the ore, converting Zinc sulfide to Zinc oxide and reducing Zinc oxide to Zinc with Carbon. Nickel is extracted using the Mond's process where the ore is converted to nickel oxide, and then to nickel tetracarbonyl which is subsequently decomposed back into Nickel. Cadmium is obtained as a byproduct from zinc ores which is then converted to its oxide and reduced by Carbon to extract it.

Step by step solution

01

Extraction of Zinc - Step 1

To extract Zinc, the roasting method is usually employed. Firstly, the zinc ores are crushed and ground into fine powder.
02

Extraction of Zinc - Step 2

The ground ore is then roasted in the air where Zinc sulfide is converted to Zinc oxide, following the reaction: \(2ZnS + 3O_2 → 2ZnO + 2SO_2 \), where \( ZnS \) is zinc sulfide and \( ZnO \) is zinc oxide.
03

Extraction of Zinc - Step 3

Zinc Oxide is then reduced to Zinc using Carbon, following the reaction: \(ZnO + C → Zn + CO\), where \( ZnO \) is zinc oxide and \( Zn \) is zinc.
04

Extraction of Nickel - Step 1

Nickel is extracted by the process of Mond's process. In this method, the ore is first heated in air to convert it to nickel oxide.
05

Extraction of Nickel - Step 2

The formed nickel oxide will then be heat with syngas at around 40 - 60 degree Celsius to form nickel tetracarbonyl, according to the reaction: \(Ni + 4CO → Ni(CO)_4\), where \( Ni \) is Nickel and \( Ni(CO)_4 \) is Nickel Tetracarbonyl.
06

Extraction of Nickel - Step 3

The obtained nickel tetracarbonyl is then subjected to a higher temperature (450-470 degree Celsius) to decompose it back into Nickel.
07

Extraction of Cadmium - Step 1

Cadmium can be extracted as a byproduct from zinc ores after the zinc has been removed.
08

Extraction of Cadmium - Step 2

The cadmium present in the ore is first converted to its oxide.
09

Extraction of Cadmium - Step 3

This Cadmium Oxide is then reduced by Carbon to obtain metallic Cadmium.

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