Separation and Concentration of Pd, Pt, and Rh from Automotive Catalytic Converters by Combining Two Hollow-Fiber Liquid Membrane Systems

Liquid- and Solid-based Separations Employing Ionic Liquids for the Recovery of Platinum Group Metals Typically Encountered in Catalytic Converters: A Review

The wide application range and ascending demand for platinum group metals combined with the progressive depletion of their natural resources renders their efficient recycling a very important and pressing matter. Primarily environmental considerations associated with state-of-the-art recovery processes have shifted the focus of the scientific community toward the investigation of alternative recycling approaches. Within this context, ionic liquids have gained considerable attention in the last two decades chiefly sparked by properties such as tunabilty, low-volatility, and relatively easy recyclability. In this review an understanding of the state-of-the-art processes, including their drawbacks and limitations, is provided. The core of the discussion is focused on platinum group metal recovery with ionic liquid-based systems. A brief insight in some environmental considerations related to ionic liquids is also provided while some discussion on research gaps, common misconceptions related to ionic liquids and outlook on unresolved issues could not be absent from this review.

Status of Recovery of Strategic Metals from Spent Secondary Products

The need to drive towards sustainable metal resource recovery from end-of-cycle products cannot be overstated. This review attempts to investigate progress in the development of recycling strategies for the recovery of strategic metals, such as precious metals and base metals, from catalytic converters, e-waste, and batteries. Several methods for the recovery of metal resources have been explored for these waste streams, such as pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and biohydrometallurgy. The results are discussed, and the efficiency of the processes and the chemistry involved are detailed. The conversion of metal waste to high-value nanomaterials is also presented. Process flow diagrams are also presented, where possible, to represent simplified process steps. Despite concerns about environmental effects from processing the metal waste streams, the gains for driving towards a circular economy of these waste streams are enormous. Therefore, the development of greener processes is recommended. In addition, countries need to manage their metal waste streams appropriately and ensure that this becomes part of the formal economic activity and, therefore, becomes regulated.

Making precious metals cheap: A sonoelectrochemical - Hydrodynamic cavitation method to recycle platinum group metals from spent automotive catalysts

Platinum group metals, such as Pd and Pt, found in three-way catalyst converters were recycled in a two-step method: hydrodynamic cavitation followed by sonoelectrochemical dissolution. High shear forces were obtained by using a convergent nozzle with a throat diameter of 0.2 mm, feeded by a plunger pump at a pressure of 60 MPa. Cavitating submerged jets acted locally on the water dispersed waste catalyst. As-obtained samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Electron microscopy on the initial sample showed that round shaped Pd and Pt nanoparticles were randomly distributed on the Al₂O₃ matrix. Cavitated samples show two zones in which Pt and Pd were partially and completely separated from the cordierite. The hydrodynamic cavitation separates the Pd and Pt from the cordierite leading to an apparent increase in Pd and Pt concentrations of 9% and 34% respectively. Conventional electrochemistry showed a dissolution of 20% in 1 h. To further accelerate the dissolution, a sonotrode operating at 20 kHz and 75 W was placed inside an electrochemical cell in order to increase the mass transport and obtain high dissolution rates. Indeed, the results showed that 40% of the available Pd and Pt can be recycled in just 1 h. In the absence of hydrodynamic cavitation and using conventional electrochemistry less than 10% of the available Pt and Pd is recovered in 1 h. The cost analysis showed that Pd and Pt can be recovered at less than 10 EUR per g which is 5 times smaller than their current market price.

Recovery and Then Individual Separation of Platinum, Palladium, and Rhodium from Spent Car Catalytic Converters Using Hydrometallurgical Technique followed by Successive Precipitation Methods

Recovery of PGMs (especially rhodium, platinum, and palladium) from different spent manufactured products (like catalytic converters) is considered as an important task as they are rarely found in nature, and they possess high economic value. In this work, the honeycomb of a car catalytic converter was primarily processed by crushing, grinding, and then treating in a hydrogen atmosphere. In order to establish an economic and ecofriendly method for the recovery of studied PGMs, different experimental conditions of changing HCl/H2O2 (as a leaching solution) ratio, temperature, and contact time were studied through batch experiments to obtain the optimum leaching conditions. The use of 0.8 vol% H2O2 and 9.0 M HCl mixture at 60°C for a contact time of 2.5 hours during the leaching process may be considered as the best conditions to be followed to save chemicals, energy, and time (about 86%, 96%, and 98% of Rh, Pt, and Pd were recovered, respectively). Individual separation of PGM ions from each other using precipitation technique from their leaching liquor was performed where % purity values of 99.5, 99.3, and 95.5 were obtained for Pt, Pd, and Rh, respectively.

Applicability of a Supported Liquid Membrane in the Enrichment and Determination of Cadmium from Complex Aqueous Samples

A supported liquid membrane is developed for the separation of Cd from either high in salinity or acidity aqueous media. The membrane consisted of a durapore (polyvinylidene difluoride) polymeric support impregnated with a 0.5 M Aliquat 336 solution in decaline. The effect of carrier concentration, organic solvent and feed and receiving solutions on the metal permeability is studied. This system allows the effective transport of trace levels of Cd through the formation of CdCl₄²⁻, which is the predominant species responsible for the extraction process, in both NaCl and HCl solutions. The supported liquid membrane system in a hollow fibre configuration allows the enrichment and separation of trace levels of Cd from spiked seawater samples, facilitating the analytical determination of this toxic metal.

A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase transfer protocol for the highly efficient extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous phase

A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase-transfer protocol is developed for the extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous solution to a hydrocarbon phase, which calls for first mixing the aqueous metal ion solution with an ethanolic solution of 1-dodecanethiol, and then extracting the coordination compounds formed between noble metal ions and 1-dodecanethiol into a non-polar organic solvent. A number of characterization techniques, including inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis demonstrate that this protocol could be applied to extract a wide variety of noble metal ions from water to dichloromethane with an efficiency of >96%, and has high selectivity for the separation of the noble metal ions from other transition metals. It is therefore an attractive alternative for the extraction of noble metals from water, soil, or waste printed circuit boards.

A novel ion-imprinted electrode prepared by in situ polymerization for detection of platinum

A novel ion imprinted electrode with high sensitivity and specific recognition to Pt(iv) was obtained byin situpolymerization.

Colourimetric and fluorescent probes for the optical detection of palladium ions

In recent years, the development of optical probes to analyse trace palladium ions (Pd(2+)) has attracted great attention because of the residual palladium released by catalytic converters or from various Pd-catalysed reactions. These residual palladium ions may cause potential health hazards. This review provides a brief introduction to the new methods used to determine trace amounts of Pd(2+), which then mainly focuses on the different reporting systems and unique mechanisms of the colourimetric and fluorescent probes used to detect Pd(2+), including Pd(2+) complex formation or Pd-catalysed reactions.

Automated, on-line membrane extraction

Over the last few years, membranes have been used to develop new approaches in analytical extraction, concentration and cleanup. An important advantage of membrane processes is that the sample and the extraction phase can be continuously brought into contact without physical mixing, and may be directly interfaced to an analytical instrument. This provides the basis for automated, real-time monitoring. Membrane extraction has been applied to a wide range of organic and inorganic analytes, and has been directly interfaced with chromatography, spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Implementations of membrane extraction are diverse, encompassing different types of membranes, module designs and configurations. This review highlights some of these, and particularly the unique capabilities in automated, and on-line measurements.