Abstract:The catalytic performance on jarosite process of jarosite seeds via biosynthesis and chemical processes were studied, respectively. The SEM and XRD results showed that biosynthetic jarosite seeds (BIO seeds) had smooth surface and mainly consisted of potassium jarosite. The chemical synthesis jarosite seeds (CHM seeds) had a loose cauliflower-like surface and mainly consisted of hydronium jarosite. The catalytic performance of BIO seeds was better than that of CHM seeds on the formation of final jarosite product. The induction time can be shortened to 20 min, the reaction temperature can be reduced to only 75 °C, and the initial reaction speed was enhanced obviously, up to 3.933%/min. The crystallinity of final jarosite product using BIO seeds can achieve 97.22%, while it was only 12.89% without seeds. This indicates that the precipitation process of jarosite is more complete with BIO seeds.

Key words: jarosite seed; jarosite process; induction period; temperature; initial precipitate rate