Research on the Recovery of Noble Metals Using Commercial Ion Exchange Resins

Noble metals are one of the most valuable metals due to their exceptional properties, which directly lead to their wide applicability in many industries. Concerning the ongoing problems, such as recovering noble metals from contaminated solutions with their low concentration obtained from the recycling of wastes, the research work aimed to check the applicability and performance of the commercially available ion exchange resins in this field. It was established that among the tested resins, Puromet MTS9200, Lewatit MonoPlus MP600 and Diaion CR20 were the leading noble metals sorbents. Sorption isotherms were determined, and a ratio of 1:10 (Vresin: Vsolution) was selected as the ratio suitable for the further possible studies under dynamic conditions with the use of the tested technological solution. The research on the sorption kinetics allowed to determine that the solution–resin contact time of 30 min was appropriate and sufficient to recover around ~98% of Pt and > 80% of Rh. A solution of 1 M thiourea in 2 M hydrochloric acid could be used to elute noble metals from ion exchange resins with a good efficiency in the experimental conditions.