Polymer resins for recovery of valuable metals.

Vinylbenzyl chloride/divinylbenzene gel copolymer beads have been modified using piperidine, hexamethyleneimine, piperazine, 1-(2-aminoethyl)piperazine, and N-cyclohexyl-1,3-propanediamine. These resins were then tested for the sorption of noble metal ions, namely, Re(VII), Pd(II), Pt(IV), and Au(III), from a 0.1 M HCl solution. The effect of these resins on the sorption of other coexisting ions, such as Cu, Ni and Fe, was also studied. Of the resins tested, resin 4 [1-(2-aminoethyl)piperazine groups] showed the highest sorption capacity for Pt(IV) and Re(VII) from single and multicomponent solutions, with the sorption of Pt(IV) from the multicomponent solution (Re, Au, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ni Fe) in 0.1 M HCl reaching 68 mg Pt/g.