A method for purifying a powder including grains and contaminants, includes preparing a suspension including the metal powder and a solvent; then while applying mechanical energy to the suspension; dispersing the grains and the contaminants in the solvent; removing the contaminants and the solvent, and drying the grains under a controlled atmosphere.

A high strength cast magnesium alloy, relating to the technical field of magnesium alloy material preparation. The composition and mass percentage of cast magnesium alloy are: Zn 7.0%, Al 3.0%˜5.0%, Mn 0.3%˜0.5%, RE 0.5%˜1%, the total amount of unavoidable impurities is less than or equal to 0.04%, and the allowance is Mg, wherein the RE includes La and Ce, La and Ce account for 35% and 65% of the total amount of RE, respectively. Among them, Mn, La and Ce are added in the form of Mg-5 wt. % Mn, Mg-30 wt. % La and Mg-30 wt. % Ce intermediate alloys respectively. Then it is prepared through battering, melting, melt purification, pouring and heat treatment. By adding RE, the alloy melt can be purified, and the corrosion resistance and casting performance of the alloy can be increased. The tensile strength of the alloy is 300 MPa˜314 MPa, the elongation is 7%-13%, and the light rare earth content is low, the raw material and processing cost is low, and it is easy to realize mass production.

A high strength cast magnesium alloy, relating to the technical field of magnesium alloy material preparation. The composition and mass percentage of cast magnesium alloy are: Zn 7.0%, Al 3.0%˜5.0%, Mn 0.3%˜0.5%, RE 0.5%˜1%, the total amount of unavoidable impurities is less than or equal to 0.04%, and the allowance is Mg, wherein the RE includes La and Ce, La and Ce account for 35% and 65% of the total amount of RE, respectively. Among them, Mn, La and Ce are added in the form of Mg-5 wt. % Mn, Mg-30 wt. % La and Mg-30 wt. % Ce intermediate alloys respectively. Then it is prepared through battering, melting, melt purification, pouring and heat treatment. By adding RE, the alloy melt can be purified, and the corrosion resistance and casting performance of the alloy can be increased. The tensile strength of the alloy is 300 MPa˜314 MPa, the elongation is 7%-13%, and the light rare earth content is low, the raw material and processing cost is low, and it is easy to realize mass production.

This invention is directed to a method for recovering valuable metals from spent lithium-ion-batteries using CO.sub.2/CO/H.sub.2O gas mixture, or reducing gas comprising CH.sub.4, or solid carbon or combination thereof.

Disclosed is a process for the production of a purified soft lead product, including a first distillation step for distilling lead from a molten solder mixture to produce as overhead a first concentrated lead stream and as first bottom product a molten crude tin mixture. The process also includes a soft lead refining step for removing at least one contaminant selected from arsenic, tin and/or antimony from the first concentrated lead stream by treating the stream at a temperature of less than 600° C. with a first base and a first oxidant stronger than air, resulting in the formation of a third supernatant dross containing a metalate compound of the contaminant, followed by separating the third supernatant dross from the purified soft lead stream or product, whereby the third supernatant dross contains at most 1.0% wt of chlorine.

Provided is a more efficient dry refining process for improving the recovery rate of phosphorus-free valuable metals from waste lithium ion batteries. The present invention provides a method for recovering valuable metals from waste lithium ion batteries, said method comprises a melting step S4 for melting the waste lithium ion batteries and obtaining a molten substance and a slag separation step S5 for separating slag from the molten substance and recovering an alloy containing valuable metals, wherein in the melting step, flux containing a calcium compound is added to the waste lithium ion batteries such that the mass ratio between silicon dioxide and calcium oxide in the slag becomes 0.50 or less and the mass ratio between calcium oxide and aluminum oxide falls in the range of 0.30 to 2.00.

Provided is a more efficient dry refining process for improving the recovery rate of phosphorus-free valuable metals from waste lithium ion batteries. The present invention provides a method for recovering valuable metals from waste lithium ion batteries, said method comprises a melting step S4 for melting the waste lithium ion batteries and obtaining a molten substance and a slag separation step S5 for separating slag from the molten substance and recovering an alloy containing valuable metals, wherein in the melting step, flux containing a calcium compound is added to the waste lithium ion batteries such that the mass ratio between silicon dioxide and calcium oxide in the slag becomes 0.50 or less and the mass ratio between calcium oxide and aluminum oxide falls in the range of 0.30 to 2.00.

A process for improving the grade and optical quality of zircon, comprising: baking a mixture of a zircon feed and concentrated sulphuric acid at a baking temperature in the range of from 200 up to 400° C., and for a time to form water leachable sulphates with impurities therein including at least iron and titanium; leaching the baked mixture to dissolve the leachable sulphates; and separating the zircon from the leachate containing the leached sulphates, which separated zircon is thereby of improved grade and optical quality.

A process for improving the grade and optical quality of zircon, comprising: baking a mixture of a zircon feed and concentrated sulphuric acid at a baking temperature in the range of from 200 up to 400° C., and for a time to form water leachable sulphates with impurities therein including at least iron and titanium; leaching the baked mixture to dissolve the leachable sulphates; and separating the zircon from the leachate containing the leached sulphates, which separated zircon is thereby of improved grade and optical quality.

An electrolyser (F) for generating hydrogen from water, the electrolyser comprising an electrode (102), the electrode (120) comprising nanoparticles selected from Group 1 nanoparticles or alloys or composites or mixtures thereof.