Solvent Extraction of Rhodium from Chloride Solutions added Tin(II) with Amine Extractants

Abstract

Chloride is one of the effective medium in which platinum group metals (PGMs) can be brought into a solution, thus chlorocomplexes are particularly important in the process chemistry of PGMs separations. Rh (III) chlorocomplexes are poorly extracted into organic solvents, which is due to the charge of the complex as well as those inert character in a solution, that is, formation of RhCl6-n(H2O)n(3-n) - (n=1-6) . The problem of solvent extraction of Rh from chloride solutions has not yet been solved and there is no effective industrial extractant for Rh. PGMs are traditionally separated from one another and the other metals by a complex series of selective precipitation techniques. These are generally inefficient in terms of the degree of separation achieved. Solvent extraction applied to refining process for PGMs offers several advantages over the traditional precipitation methods. Adding Sn (II) to a Rh (III) feed is a good procedure which can be used to make Rh react more easily to extraction, however, stripping of Rh from the loaded organic pahse is very difficult. In the present study, the extraction of Rh from hydrochloric acid solutions with tri-n-octylamine (TOA) and tri-octyl methyl ammonium chloride (TOMAC) were tested to clarify the effect of addition of Sn (II) on the extraction of Rh and stripping of Rh.

Keywords

• solvent extraction
• stripping
• amine extractant
• rhodium
• tin (ii)
• chloride solution