Thiocarbamoylation of Chlorosulfonated Polystyrene for Preparing Sorbents for Noble Metal Ions

Abstract

A new sorbent for noble metal ions, ensuring selective recovery of Au(III) ions from aqueous solutions containing interfering 3d metal ions, was suggested. The new functional derivative, poly(thiocarbamoylsulfostyre ne), was prepared by treatment of poly(chlorosulfostyrene) with thiourea. At the total degree of functionalization with sulfo and thiourea groups of up to 1.0, the degree of thiocarbamoylation can be controlled in the range from 10 to 75%. The composition and structure of the polymer-analogous transformation products were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier IR spectroscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis with IR identification of the decomposition products. Evaluation of the sorption activity of poly(thiocarbamoylsulfostyrene) has shown that the sorbent takes up Au(III) ions virtually quantitatively with high selectivity from an aqueous solution containing Co(II), Fe(III), Pd(II), and Ni(II) ions.