Synthesis of Adsorbents with Anion Exchange and Chelating Properties for Separation and Recovery of Precious Metals – A Review
Piotr Cyganowski
Abstract
Human activity and consequent technological advances caused a sharp increase in the demand for precious and rare metals. As a result, they are gradually dispersed on a scale unobserved in the past, passing in trace quantities to secondary raw materials, from which we are forced to recover them. Adsorbents possessing ion exchange and chelating properties may be a response for this scientific challenge. This article is a review that puts an emphasis on the most recent synthetic routes leading to resins possessing anion exchange and chelating properties, in particular as devoted to separation and recovery of the noble metals Au, Pt, and Pd. Selection of the presented materials is based on those techniques that allow researchers to (i) facilitate the synthesis process itself as well as (ii) acquire increased selectivity and adsorption capacity as compared to well-established materials – commercial as well as those reported in the past.