Impact of recrystallization on the purity of ANSH crystals produced from Ni hyperaccumulator plant

The industrial development will influence the demand and price of nickel in the coming years which opens the possibility for the use of innovative ways for its exploitation from secondary resources. Phytomining of nickel is a prospective in situ technology that uses plants with natural hyperaccumulating capabilities for this element. This study represents application of currently established and developed hydrometallurgical methods on wild populations of nickel hyperaccumulator from Serbia and explores the impact of recrystallization on the purity of the final product. The study confirms that nickel salts (ammonium nickel sulfate hexahydrate) can be synthesized from the Odontarrhena muralis that is naturally occurring on the ultramafic sites in West Serbia. Due to the small starting mass for the harvested biomass the preliminary experiments were separated into two series, which yielded 7,3g and 5,2g nickel salts of 60% and 73% purity, respectively, before recrystallization. However after recrystallization their purity was maximized reaching analytical levels of purity 99,9%, whereas their mass was reduced to 5,45g and 3,89g. More comprehensive studies with larger biomass and proper cultivation on ultramafic soil are needed in future to fully explore the potential for the development of Ni phytomining in Serbia.