hubps
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separation of Ni/Cd from batteries
hi everyone!
i'm new in this forum and i want to say that this is a fantastic board for the home chemist, congratulations to everyone 
i've got some Ni/Cd exhausted batteries and i want to exctract the Ni/Cd as compounds but i don't know how to do this. the main problem is that nickel
and cadmium are mixed together in the battery so i can't separate them with my hands. anyone here have some idea on how i can separate the nickel from
the cadmium?
thanks
(english is not my first language, so if i make some mistake in grammar or in spelling, excuse me)
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blogfast25
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Welcome!
Now you've found this fantastic board, respect rule number one: use its fantastic search facility. This topic has been covered several times in the
past.
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hubps
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i search but i don't find a lot... my fault, i search better and now i find something, i used bad keywords. sorry
[Edited on 27-8-2012 by hubps]
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elementcollector1
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Incidentally, why can't you separate them by hand? The way I saw the construction, it was a jelly roll of cadmium metal, a separator, and the nickel
compound. Couldn't you just peel off layers?
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Poppy
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There must be pointed out exhausted betteries will contain no Ni at all.
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DerAlte
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See: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=8645#p...
Der Alte
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Magpie
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Also see:
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=4676#p...
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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hubps
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Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1  | | Incidentally, why can't you separate them by hand? The way I saw the construction, it was a jelly roll of cadmium metal, a separator, and the nickel
compound. Couldn't you just peel off layers? |
well, i can't separate them by hand because thte core of the battery is heavily pressed. the outer metal casing is hard to cut to open the battery in
a good way. it's simple to smash it with a hammer and the take out everything from the battery with a pair of pliers.
thanks to everyone.
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elementcollector1
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Well, I somehow found a few NiCd battery packs. Now, what do you think about getting the cadmium metal out of these after I recharge them?
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Poppy
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From a long term collecting of random screws and batteries throw in the street I'm proud so far as owning more than 90 screws and 20 batteries.
From one of those I found this most perfect plate of a metal, judging by color, dunno what it is.
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elementcollector1
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Judging by the oxidation on the right, iron.
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Poppy
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Huh?
Then it should be called Cd/ iron battery lol
Unless its NI/Cd from China. look it has a lustrous mildly brass color indicating it must be nickel tho..
Too late, already threw battery capsules :/
[Edited on 9-6-2012 by Poppy]
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elementcollector1
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Oh, that was a NiCd battery. Er... nickel oxide?
Anyway, I just found a LOT of NiCd batteries, and I have a few questions:
1) Can leather gloves protect against the toxicity of cadmium metal?
2) Is the cadmium metal separable at all?
3) How much cadmium is considered 'too much'? ;D
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elementcollector1
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Further research indicates that:
1) that brown stuff is actually cadmium (II) oxide.
2) That's not the cadmium; it's some underlying plate which holds a bunch of gray clumps of cadmium together.
I scraped these clumps off into a powder, which wouldn't melt (and yes, I avoided the fumes). Eventually I just put it in a vial, as my torch ran out
of fuel (so I can't seal it in an ampoule).
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elementcollector1
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Is there any way I can 'etch' cadmium or treat it in some way so that it melts more readily than this gray, crumbly powder? As with all toxic
elements, cadmium metal is probably much safer to handle as a lump than as a powder.
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toothpick93
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When i opened up my Ni-Cd Battery i was left with 2 metal mesh's, but im not too sure which one is which. I have a picture below that shows both,
which one is the Cd and which one is the Ni? Its for a video and i don't want to say the wrong metals
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elementcollector1
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When you say you heated the gray one to remove the coating, did the coating melt or oxidize off?
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toothpick93
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It more oxidized off. I was wearing a respiratory apparatus while heating it with a blowtorch as i didn't know what it was, produced a coloured smoke
upon heating. Did you want me to post a picture with the grey stuff still on? i dismantled 4 batteries
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bfesser
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Thread Moved
14-1-2014 at 06:30 |
blogfast25
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| Quote: Originally posted by toothpick93 | When i opened up my Ni-Cd Battery i was left with 2 metal mesh's, but im not too sure which one is which. I have a picture below that shows both,
which one is the Cd and which one is the Ni? Its for a video and i don't want to say the wrong metals
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I'm no expert on NiCd batteries but a very cursory reading tells me these batteries are only supposed to contain Cd in metallic form, the Ni as
Ni(III), not as metal. One of the metal meshes may not be Cd or Ni.
Ni and Cd should be easily distinguished because Cd is quite responsive to dilute HCl and H2SO4, whereas Ni really needs nitric acid for dissolution.
Cd, being a Period V element, is also more dense than Ni, Fe and other Period IV elements.
[Edited on 14-1-2014 by blogfast25]
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toothpick93
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I dont know if it help but when I burnt the grey stuff off, the smoke was blueish to green in colour
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