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

这个小型企业创新研究二期项目的重点是设计一系列极其高效的金属萃取产品（MEPs），这些产品具有定制的特性，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回收分离方法复杂且成本昂贵。二期项目将充分发展PGM的分离和纯化，扩大MEP合成的规模，扩大该技术进入PGM回收市场的工作范围。这些新型MEPs将在贵金属精炼和回收工业中有广泛的应用。据估计，仅在美国，废旧汽车催化反应器中贵金属催化剂的总价值每年就高达8亿美元。此外，这些mep还可用于锕系元素（如钚）的分离和纯化，以及微量阴离子（如铬酸盐、砷酸盐）的预浓缩，以帮助环境分析。对结构的修改也可能导致生产高度特定的环境传感器，用于地下水和其他含水流中的污染物的原位检测。

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.