Environmentally friendly Pd(II) recovery from spent automotive catalysts using resins impregnated with a pincer-type extractant

Selective Pd recovery from acidic leachates by 3-mercaptopropylphosphonic acid grafted TiO2: does surface coverage correlate to performance?

Modification of metal oxides with organophosphonic acids (PAs) provides the ability to control and tailor the surface properties. The metal oxide phosphonic acid bond (M-O-P) is known to be stable under harsh conditions, making PAs a promising candidate for the recovery of metals from complex acidic leachates. The thiol functional group is an excellent regenerable scavenging group for these applications. However, the research on organophosphonic acid grafting with thiol groups is very limited. In this study, four different metal sorbent materials were designed with different thiol surface coverages. An aqueous-based grafting of 3-mercaptopropylphosphonic acid (3MPPA) on mesoporous TiO₂ was employed. Surface grafted thiol groups could be obtained in the range from 0.9 to 1.9 groups per nm². The different obtained surface properties were studied and correlated to the Pd adsorption performance. High Pd/S adsorption efficiencies were achieved, indicating the presence of readily available sorption sites. A large difference in their selectivity towards Pd removal from a spend automotive catalyst leachate was observed due to the co-adsorption of Fe on the titania support. The highest surface coverage showed the highest selectivity (K _d: 530 mL g^-1) and adsorption capacity (Q _max: 0.32 mmol g^-1) towards Pd, while strongly reducing the co-adsorption of Fe on remaining TiO₂ sites.

Selective Recovery of Palladium (II) from Metallurgical Wastewater Using Thiadiazole-Based Chloromethyl Polystyrene-Modified Adsorbent

Selective adsorption of palladium from metallurgical wastewater containing Pt (IV), Rh (III), Ca2+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Ni2+, Pb2+, V3+, and Ti4+ has tremendous economic and environmental benefits. In this paper, a novel thiadiazole-based chloromethyl polystyrene-modified adsorbent, viz. 2, 5-bis-polystyrene-1,3,4-thiadiazole (PS-DMTD), was synthesized using chloromethyl polystyrene as the backbone. The experimental results show that PS-DMTD can selectively separate Pd (II) from metallurgical wastewater in a one-step adsorption process. The calculated saturation adsorption capacity of PS-DMTD for Pd (II) was 176.3 mg/g at 25 °C. The separation factors of βPd (II)/Mn+ (Mn+: Pt (IV), Rh (III), Ca2+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Ni2+, Pb2+, V3+, and Ti4+) were all higher than 1 × 104. FT-IR, XPS, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction showed that the adsorption of Pd (II) to PS-DMTD was primarily through a coordination mechanism. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the other base metal ions could not coordinate with the PS-DMTD. Pt (IV) could not be adsorbed to PS-DMTD due to its strong chlorophilicity. Furthermore, Rh (III) existed as a polyhydrate, which inhibited Rh (III) diffusion toward the positively charged absorption sites on the PS-DMTD. These results highlight that PS-DMTD has broad application prospects in the recovery of Pd (II) from metallurgical wastewater.

Selective recovery of platinum from spent autocatalyst solution by thiourea modified magnetic biocarbons

The precious platinum group metals distributed in urban industrial products should be recycled because of their rapid decline in the contents through excessive mining. In this work, thiourea modified magnetic biocarbons are prepared via an energy-efficient microwave-assisted activation and assessed as potential adsorbents to recover platinum ions (i.e., Pt(IV)) from dilute waste solution. The physicochemical properties of prepared biocarbons are characterized by a series of spectroscopic and analytic instruments. The adsorption performance of biocarbons is carried out by using batch tests. Consequently, the maximum adsorption capacity of Pt(IV) observed for adsorbents is ca. 42.8 mg g^-1 at pH = 2 and 328 K. Both adsorption kinetics and isotherm data of Pt(IV) on the adsorbents are fitted better with non-linear pseudo second-order model and Freundlich isotherm, respectively. Moreover, the thermodynamic parameters suggest that the Pt(IV) adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous. Most importantly, the adsorbents exhibit high selectivity toward Pt(IV) adsorption and preserve ca. 96.9% of adsorption capacity after six cyclic runs. After adsorption, the regeneration of the prepared adsorbents can be effectively attained by using 1 M thiourea/2% HCl mixed solution as an eluent. Combined the data from Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, the mechanisms for Pt(IV) adsorption are governed by Pt-S bond between Pt(IV) and thiourea as well as the electrostatic attraction between anionic PtCl₆^2- and cationic functional groups of adsorbents. The superior Pt(IV) recovery and sustainable features allow the thiourea modified magnetic biocarbon as a potential adsorbent to recycle noble metals from spent autocatalyst solution.