found lots of zinc in battery

[duke1025]

look and ye shall find!
batteries it seems have lots of nice zinc... the outside casing is made of it, and inside is also a zinc powder which looks kinda blueish silver.

so i tried melting a little, but it will not melt, so i'll use electrolysis to get the pure zinc out... it should have melted, so i think it's mixed with other metal.

So, i have a zinc metal can, and an electropolish/etch machine...

i want the zinc... what acid should i use, dilution? and best voltage/current. other electrode i should use

Thanks for your help in advance!
.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I'm confused by the title of this thread. Did you mean you found lots of tin, or lots of zinc? If you meant zinc, you can edit the thread to correct it.

Dave

 

[duke1025]

I'm confused by the title of this thread. Did you mean you found lots of tin, or lots of zinc? If you meant zinc, you can edit the thread to correct it.

Dave

Thanks! corrected...

 

[Palladium]

You didn't hear this from me, but............
Pennies are made from Zinc!

 

[g_axelsson]

The white powder mass (alcaline battery) is zinc oxide when the battery is spent. There is only zinc metal when the battery is new. And I think the can in this case is made of steel and not zinc. A magnet is a quick way to test it.

For a dry cell the casing is made of zinc and it is converted into zinc chloride when the battery is used up. Newer batteries have a plastic cover to be able to use less zinc without risking leakage.

The zinc oxide can be turned back into zinc in an electrolytical cell, look for NurdRage on youtube where he shows how.

Göran

 

[duke1025]

You didn't hear this from me, but............
Pennies are made from Zinc!

i have collected a bit of both US and Canada currency over the years... i just did a check...
Canada coins...
pennies 1997–1999 2.25 g 19.05 mm (​3⁄4 inch), round 98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating
dimes minted between the year 1968 and 1999 were made of nickel.
$1 (loonie) 91.5% nickel, 8.5% bronze plating
$2 (toonie) outer ring 99% nickel, inner core 92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel
and yes, google has given dates as well for penny currencys made of zinc.
diamonds are for bling, but i love metal!!! :mrgreen:
Thanks for the reminder!

 

[duke1025]

The white powder mass (alcaline battery) is zinc oxide when the battery is spent. There is only zinc metal when the battery is new. And I think the can in this case is made of steel and not zinc. A magnet is a quick way to test it.

For a dry cell the casing is made of zinc and it is converted into zinc chloride when the battery is used up. Newer batteries have a plastic cover to be able to use less zinc without risking leakage.

The zinc oxide can be turned back into zinc in an electrolytical cell, look for NurdRage on youtube where he shows how.

Göran

AHHH! thanks! the casing on this battery is magnetic. and i heated the corner to bright red (around 1000c) and it did not melt. so... unless the metal is a composite of something with zinc it it?
Thanks for that!