A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase transfer protocol for the highly efficient extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous phase
Dong Chen , Penglei Cui , Hongbin Cao
,
Jun Yang
DOI:10.1016/j.jes.2014.07.028
Received May 20, 2014,Revised July 31, 2014, Accepted , Available online March 13, 2015
Volume 27,2015,Pages 146-150
A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase-transfer protocol is developed for the extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous solution to a hydrocarbon phase, which calls for first mixing the aqueous metal ion solution with an ethanolic solution of 1-dodecanethiol, and then extracting the coordination compounds formed between noble metal ions and 1-dodecanethiol into a non-polar organic solvent. A number of characterization techniques, including inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis demonstrate that this protocol could be applied to extract a wide variety of noble metal ions from water to dichloromethane with an efficiency of >96%, and has high selectivity for the separation of the noble metal ions from other transition metals. It is therefore an attractive alternative for the extraction of noble metals from water, soil, or waste printed circuit boards.
