Elemental iron has a long history of use for reductive recovery of dissolved metals from waters associated with ore bodies, mining and mineral processing activities. It has recently been recognized that Fenton's reagent, which generates powerful oxidants, may be generated when iron corrodes in the presence of oxygen. If the iron is nanoparticulate, enough oxidant may be generated for practical applications. However, there is ample indication in the literature that oxidation reactions on iron at near-neutral pH are strongly sensitive to the source of the iron, which affects the surface. This was investigated here for electrolytic iron powder, and two types of nanoparticulate iron, using a modified packed powder electrode. The behavior of bulk iron was investigated using a rotating disk electrode. The results revealed significant differences in the corrosion behavior of the different iron samples, indicating that these would yield significantly different results if employed for oxidation reactions. © The Electrochemical Society.

cited By 0; Conference of 8th International Symposium on Electrochemistry in Mineral and Metal Processing - 217th ECS Meeting ; Conference Date: 26 April 2010 Through 28 April 2010; Conference Code:82642