REMOVAL OF ALKALINE CATALYSTS FROM POLYOLS BY ION-EXCHANGE - SELECTION OF AN ION-EXCHANGE RESIN

Polyols, as commercially prepared, contain in their crude form various impurities such as alkali metal hydroxides which were employed as cat alysts for their production. Most practical methods for removing these impurities involve acid neutralization of the alkali to form insolubl e salts which are removed by filtration. A variety of commercial resin s were evaluated in this work as ion exchangers for the purification o f polyols. Amberlite 252, a macroporous cation exchange resin, was fou nd to be the best resin. The loaded resin was regenerated efficiently. The results suggest that such a process is both technically and econo mically feasible.