SBIR Phase II: Novel Methodology for Purification and Separation of Platinum Group Metals

这个小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目的重点是设计一系列非常高效的金属提取产品（MEP），具有量身定制的特性，专门用于从酸性溶液中提取和纯化铂族金属（PGM）阴离子。现有的PGM回收和分离方法复杂且昂贵。二期项目将全面开发铂族金属的分离和纯化，扩大MEP合成规模，并扩大工作范围，将该技术推向铂族金属回收市场。 这些新型MEP将在贵金属精炼以及回收工业中具有广泛的应用。据估计，仅美国一年废旧汽车催化反应器中贵金属催化剂的总价值就达8亿美元。此外，这些MEP还可用于分离和纯化锕系元素，如钚，以及预浓缩痕量阴离子（如铬酸盐，砷酸盐），以帮助环境分析。结构的修改也可能导致生产高度特定的环境传感器，用于现场检测地下水和其他水流中的污染物。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is focused on designing a series of extremely efficient metal extraction products (MEPs) with tailor-made properties for specifically extracting and purifying platinum group metal (PGM) anions from acid solutions. Existing PGM recovery and separation methods are complex and expensive. The Phase II project will fully develop the separation and purification of PGMs, scale up the MEP synthesis and expand the scope of the work to launch the technology into PGM recycling market. These novel MEPs will have wide applications in the precious metal refining as well as recycling industries. It is estimated that the total value of precious metal catalysts in spent automobile catalytic reactors in the United States alone is $ 800 million a year. Additionally, these MEPs could also be used in the separation and purification of actinides, such as plutonium, and in the pre-concentration of trace amounts of anions (e.g. chromate, arsenate) to aid in environmental analysis. Modifications of the structure may also lead to the production of highly specific environmental sensors for the in-situ detection of contaminants in groundwater and other aqueous streams.