The work presents studies on the application of hydrometallurgical recovery of cobalt(II) from solutions after leaching spent industrial catalysts used in process of hydrodesulfurization. A four-stage process was proposed, which consists of: leaching, precipitation of metal hydroxides accompanying Co(II), extraction of Co(II) with bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid and Co(II) stripping from the organic phase. The results indicate that by using the proposed method it is possible to leach Co(II) and Mo(VI) from spent catalyst, and remove main impurities such as Al(III), Fe(III) in hydroxide precipitation step and separate Co(II) from Mo(VI) by extraction and stripping.

Recovery of platinum group metals (PGM) from complex aqueous solutions generated as a result of leaching of various spent materials (e.g., spent automotive converters) is a vital issue in the context of the circular economy. In this study pyridinium derivatives containing an imidoamide or imine moiety (i.e., 3-[1-(2-ethylhexyloxyimine)methane]-1-propylpyridinium chloride, 3-[1-(decyloxyimine)methane]-1-propylpyridinium chloride, 3-[1-(decyloxyimine)ethane]-1-propylpyridinium chloride and 4-[1-amine(2-ethylhexyloxyimine)]-1-propylpyridinium chloride) are proposed as novel extractants for recovery of palladium(II) and platinum(IV) from model chloride aqueous solutions. The results of liquid-liquid extraction from one-component solutions of palladium(II) or platinum(IV) showed that quaternary pyridinium salts can be used as effective extractants for platinum metal ions. Moreover, PGM extraction from a two-component mixture proved no evident selectivity in the transfer of one of the metal ions to the organic phase. As the best extractant among the investigated ones, D3EI-PrCl (with straight alkyl chain at substituent) can be pointed out, however, problems with effective stripping or phase disengagement after stripping should be indicated as a drawback of the organic phases used. Further investigation should focus on the improvement of the organic phase properties (e.g., increase in hydrophobicity of the extractants and addition of an organic phase modifier) towards stripping efficiency.

This article presents studies on the precipitation of Pt, Pd, Rh, and Ru nanoparticles (NPs) from model and real multicomponent solutions using sodium borohydride, ascorbic acid, sodium formate, and formic acid as reducing agents and polyvinylpyrrolidone as a stabilizing agent. As was expected, apart from PGMs, non-precious metals were coprecipitated. The influence of the addition of non-precious metal ions into the feed solution on the precipitation yield and catalytic properties of the obtained precipitates was studied. A strong reducing agent, NaBH₄ precipitates Pt, Pd, Rh, Fe and Cu NPs in most cases with an efficiency greater than 80% from three- and four-component model solutions. The morphology of the PGMs nanoparticles was analyzed via SEM-EDS and TEM. The size of a single nanoparticle of each precipitated metal was not larger than 5 nm. The catalytic properties of the obtained nanomaterials were confirmed via the reaction of the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (NPh) to 4-aminophenol (NAf). Nanocatalysts containing Pt/Pd/Fe NPs obtained from a real solution (produced as a result of the leaching of spent automotive catalysts) showed high catalytic activity (86% NPh conversion after 30 min of reaction at pH 11 with 3 mg of the nanocatalyst).

The paper presents basic studies on the precipitation of platinum, palladium, rhodium, and ruthenium nanoparticles from model acidic solutions using sodium borohydride, ascorbic acid, and sodium formate as reducing agents and polyvinylpyrrolidone as a stabilizing agent. The size of the obtained PGM particles after precipitation with NaBH₄ solution does not exceed 55 nm. NaBH₄ is an efficient reducer; the precipitation yields for Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh are 75, 90, 65 and 85%, respectively. By precipitation with ascorbic acid, it is possible to efficiently separate Pt, Rh, and Ru from Pd from the two-component mixtures. The obtained Pt, Pd, and Rh precipitates have the catalytic ability of the catalytic reaction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol. The morphological characteristic of the PGM precipitates was analyzed by AFM, SEM-EDS, and TEM.