무전해 구리 도금폐수로부터 증발농축 및 전해채취법을 이용하여 구리를 회수하기 위한 연구를 수행하였다. 무전해 구리 도금폐수의 분석결과, Cu 함량은 582 mg/l로 나타났으며, 미량의 Fe 성분이 함유되어 있었다. 또한, 로셀염의 첨가로 인하여 COD 9,560 mg/l, TOC 13,100 mg/l로써 매우 높았으며, 포름알데히드가 산화된 formic acid의 함량은 7.73%로 나타났다. 실험결과, 구리의 전해채취시 전류밀도가 증가할수록 전류효율은 감소하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한, 전류효율을 80% 이상으로 유지하기 위해서는 구리의 전해채취시 전류밀도를 $40mA/cm^2$ 이하로 낮추어야 함을 알 수 있었다. 전해채취를 통해 얻은 Cu중의 평균 Fe 함량은 황산농도 2 vol% 및 10 vol%에서 각각 0.021% 및 0.01%로 나타나 황산농도가 높을수록 Fe 혼입을 억제할 수 있는 것으로 나타났다.
An attempt to recover copper from electroless plating wastewater has been made through evaporation followed by the electrowinning method. From the determination of each element in electroless plating wastewater, the content of Cu was found to be 582 mg/l and small amount of Fe was also contained in it. Moreover, the content of COD and TOC which was resulted from the addition of Rochell salt was found to be 9,560 and 13,100 mg/l, respectively. The content of formic acid generated by the oxidation of formaldehyde was determined to be 7.73 %. As a result, current efficiency was decreased with increase in current density and therefore current density less than $40mA/cm^2$ should be maintained to obtain current efficiency more than 80 %. The content of Fe in Cu obtained by electrowinning was found to be 0.021 and 0.01 % at the concentration of sulfuric acid of 2 and 10 vol%, respectively.
