Provided is a high purity tin (Sn) having an extremely low oxygen content. A high purity tin having a tin purity of 5N (99.999% by mass, provided that carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen are excluded) or more, wherein the high purity tin has an oxygen content of less than 10 ppb by mass, as measured by elemental analysis using Dynamic-SIMS.

Provided is a high purity tin (Sn) having an extremely low oxygen content. A high purity tin having a tin purity of 5N (99.999% by mass, provided that carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen are excluded) or more, wherein the high purity tin has an oxygen content of less than 10 ppb by mass, as measured by elemental analysis using Dynamic-SIMS.

The disclosure provides a method of producing hydrogen. The method comprises conducting a thermochemical reaction by contacting a metal, or an alloy thereof, with steam to produce a metal oxide and/or a metal hydroxide and hydrogen. The method then comprises contacting the metal oxide and/or the metal hydroxide produced in the thermochemical reaction with water or a basic aqueous solution to produce a solution comprising a metal ion. Finally, the method comprises conducting an electrochemical reaction by applying a voltage across an anode and a cathode, whereby at least a portion of the cathode contacts the solution comprising the metal ion, to produce hydrogen, oxygen and the metal, or the alloy thereof.

The disclosure provides a method of producing hydrogen. The method comprises conducting a thermochemical reaction by contacting a metal, or an alloy thereof, with steam to produce a metal oxide and/or a metal hydroxide and hydrogen. The method then comprises contacting the metal oxide and/or the metal hydroxide produced in the thermochemical reaction with water or a basic aqueous solution to produce a solution comprising a metal ion. Finally, the method comprises conducting an electrochemical reaction by applying a voltage across an anode and a cathode, whereby at least a portion of the cathode contacts the solution comprising the metal ion, to produce hydrogen, oxygen and the metal, or the alloy thereof.

Provided is high purity tin having purity of 5N (99.999% by mass), which can suppress generation of particles. According to the high purity tin, the number of particles each having a particle diameter of 0.5 μm or more is 50,000 or less per a gram.

Provided is high purity tin having purity of 5N (99.999% by mass), which can suppress generation of particles. According to the high purity tin, the number of particles each having a particle diameter of 0.5 μm or more is 50,000 or less per a gram.

A method of recovering metals from electronic waste comprises providing a powder comprising electronic waste in at least a first reactor and a second reactor and providing an electrolyte comprising at least ferric ions in an electrochemical cell in fluid communication with the first reactor and the second reactor. The method further includes contacting the powders within the first reactor and the second reactor with the electrolyte to dissolve at least one base metal from each reactor into the electrolyte and reduce at least some of the ferric ions to ferrous ions. The ferrous ions are oxidized at an anode of the electrochemical cell to regenerate the ferric ions. The powder within the second reactor comprises a higher weight percent of the at least one base metal than the powder in the first reactor. Additional methods of recovering metals from electronic waste are also described, as well as an apparatus of recovering metals from electronic waste.

A method of recovering metals from electronic waste comprises providing a powder comprising electronic waste in at least a first reactor and a second reactor and providing an electrolyte comprising at least ferric ions in an electrochemical cell in fluid communication with the first reactor and the second reactor. The method further includes contacting the powders within the first reactor and the second reactor with the electrolyte to dissolve at least one base metal from each reactor into the electrolyte and reduce at least some of the ferric ions to ferrous ions. The ferrous ions are oxidized at an anode of the electrochemical cell to regenerate the ferric ions. The powder within the second reactor comprises a higher weight percent of the at least one base metal than the powder in the first reactor. Additional methods of recovering metals from electronic waste are also described, as well as an apparatus of recovering metals from electronic waste.

An electrochemical process comprises a step E.sup.l of electrolysis of an electrolyte in order to produce gaseous oxygen and a step of converting oxidation-reduction chemical energy into electrical energy with production of H.sub.2. The electrolyte comprises M.sup.m+ ions of a metal M corresponding to the redox pair (M.sup.m+/M), and A.sup.a+ ions of a depolarization additive A corresponding to a redox pair (A.sup.a+/A). Current is supplied between the anode and the cathode, A.sup.a+ and M.sup.m+ are deposited on the cathode respectively in the form of A and M during the electrolysis and gaseous oxygen is released at the anode. The supply of current between the anode and the cathode is then cut off. Depolarization occurs corresponding to the conversion step C°, with production of H.sub.2 and dissolution of M and A into M.sup.m+ and A.sup.a+ at the electrode acting as the cathode during step E.sup.l and the produced H.sub.2 is collected.

An electrochemical process implements, in a decoupled manner, a first step of electrolysis of an electrolyte to produce gaseous oxygen in a chamber and a second step of electrochemical conversion of H+ ions into gaseous hydrogen in a chamber which contains a liquid phase and a gas phase not dissolved in the liquid phase. Gaseous hydrogen produced in the conversion step is partly present in the gaseous headspace of chamber and as bubbles in the electrolyte, and partly dissolved in the electrolyte which is saturated with hydrogen. The electrolyte has at least one redox pair (A/B) forming at least one intermediate vector enabling the decoupling of the first and second steps. The interface between the gas and liquid phases is increased during the second step to accelerate the diffusion, from liquid phase to gas phase, of the dissolved hydrogen able to supersaturate the electrolyte. Pressurized gaseous hydrogen is then collected.