Selective Recovery of Copper, Cobalt, and Nickel from Aqueous Chloride Media using Solvent Impregnated Resins

Abstract

Selective recovery of copper, cobalt, and nickel from acidic chloride media was investigated with solvent impregnated resins (SIRs) containing acidic organophosphorus extractants. The adsorption of each metal with the SIR proceeds via a cation exchange mechanism. An SIR containing 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (PC-88A) has high selectivity for Cu2+, and the order of selectivity is Cu2+ > Co2+ > Ni2+. Effective adsorption-elution can be achieved by chromatographic operation for the selective recovery of Cu2+ from a ternary metal solution. High selectivity for Co2+ was observed using a SIR comprising bis-2,4,4-trimethylpentylphosphinic acid (Cyanex 272) and can be effectively separated from a Co and Ni binary metal solution by column adsorption. A simple and effective process flow sheet is proposed for selective recovery of Cu2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ from aqueous chloride media using the two SIRs.