This invention discloses a method and apparatus for extracting
tellurium from
tellurium-containing materials, comprising the steps of: mixing a
sulfur-containing leaching agent with the
tellurium-containing material to obtain a mixed
slurry; subjecting the mixed
slurry to
cyclone electrolysis to obtain an anodic precipitate and a
cathode product; and purifying the
cathode product to obtain
cathode tellurium. This invention combines
selective leaching and
electrowinning recovery of metallic tellurium into a
single process, and utilizes the synergistic oxidation of anodic electro-oxidation and
oxygen generation during
electrolysis to destroy the difficult-to-leach elemental and
alloy components in the tellurium-containing material, achieving one-step selective and efficient separation of tellurium-containing materials and preparation of high-purity tellurium products. By employing
cyclone electrolysis to prepare cathode tellurium, this invention avoids the adverse effects of slow
solution flow leading to reduced current efficiency and increased
concentration polarization in traditional tellurium electrolysis, shortens the tellurium electrolysis cycle, and reduces the required concentration of
impurity elements in the
electrolyte, offering advantages such as
high selectivity,
high current density, and high product purity.