Abstract
Rhodium (Rh) is an essential element as a catalyst in automotive catalytic converters, and the recovery of Rh from scrap is an important issue. However, the chemical inertness of Rh makes it difficult to recover it from scrap. This study focused on a new process for recovering platinum group metals (PGM) from scrap with the purpose of improving Rh dissolution in acid. Reactive metal vapors such as magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) were reacted with powdered Rh in a closed stainless steel reaction vessel at a constant temperature ranging from 873 to 1173 K. Mg and Ca deposited on Rh at temperatures above 973 and 1073 K, respectively. Dissolution experiments of the obtained compounds were conducted at 323–333 K for 1 h using an aqueous HCl solution or aqua regia. After reactive metal treatment 99% of Rh was dissolved by aqua regia leaching. Under the same leaching condition only 8% of the untreated pure Rh powder was dissolved. Rh was recovered from the solution obtained by leaching Mg reacted Rh compound using precipitation or cementation methods, demonstrating the feasibility of such recovery. These results show the possibility of developing a new Rh recovery process utilizing reactive metal vapor treatment.
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