Extraction of Precious Metals with a New Amide Extractant

Abstract

Precious metals are used widely in electronic industry because of their excellent heat resistance, corrosion resistance and catalytic property. Therefore it is important to recycle precious metals from E-waste. In this study, a new amid extractant N,N-Dimethyl-N,N-didecyl-3-thiopentanediamide (MDTDGA) was firstly synthesized through N-alkylated and N-acylation reaction. The extraction behavior of precious metals with MDTDGA in 80% dodecane-20% 2-ethylhexanol from hydrochloric acid was studied. The extraction ration increases with HCl concentration and extractant concentration, but it is not influenced by H+ concentration. It is indicated that the extraction of precious metals Pd (II), Pt (IV), Au (III) with MDTDGA is neutral coordination. High extraction efficiency of Au (III) of 99.5% using MDTDGA was obtained.