Immobilization of an organophosphorus compound on polypropylene‐g‐poly(glycidyl methacrylate) polymer support and its application in scandium recovery

Abstract

AbstractScandium is a rare earth element that has a wide range of uses in modern technology. The conventional recovery of scandium is commonly done by solvent extraction using organophosphorus compounds. This process however produces a lot of waste extractants. To circumvent this challenge, a model organophosphorus compound phenylphosphinic acid (PPI) was immobilized to a polymer support fabric to produce a Sc(III) adsorbent for high throughput scandium recovery with less waste generation. Polymer support (PP‐g‐PGMA) for the organophosphorus compound was synthesized using radiation‐induced graft polymerization. Successful post‐polymer modification of the PGMA grafts to attach PPI groups was carried out using 1 M PPI in isopropanol at 80°C for 4 h, achieving a maximum functional group density of 1.32 mmol/g. The obtained PP‐g‐PGMA‐PPI fabrics were used in the batch Sc(III) adsorption experiments. The results showed that PP‐g‐PGMA‐PPI effectively adsorbed low concentrations of Sc(III) at a pH of at least 2.0. More than 98% adsorption was achieved using 1 ppm Sc(III). The synthesized adsorbent was also shown to be selective for Sc(III) even in the presence of Fe(III) and Al(III) ions. PP‐g‐PGMA‐PPI adsorbent fabrics are therefore promising alternatives to solvent extraction methods and ion‐exchange granular resin technologies in the recovery of scandium.