LAUSR

Abstract Environmental and resource implications of metallurgical-grade silicon (MG-Si) slag with more than 15% of silicon become increasingly serious. The recycle or reuse of silicon slag is in urgent need. Recent reports increase about hydrogen production using wastes from silicon production. This paper primarily proposes hydrogen generation by reaction of silicon slag with water via wet grinding. Meanwhile using hydrogen generated realized the purification of MG-Si by flotation. During the process, Si is liberated from slag by wet grinding, with the slurry pH of 8.68. Hydrogen can continuously formed for more than 6h at 298 K. With silicon-water reaction going on, hydrogen content gradually increased to the highest value 73.77%, and then decreased. Hydrogen generated can be collected and used in metallurgical reduction and combustion fuels fields. It is significant to do further study on hydrogen generation via wet grinding, which may provide a new idea for hydrogen production and application.