The physical and chemical characteristics of the chelating resin Chelamine,
which contains a pentamine ligand, are investigated in order tb consider i
ts application in the separation of precious metals. Adsorption isotherm ex
periments for Pt, Pd and Au and kinetic experiments were carried out under
batch procedures. The resin presents a high level of adsorption selectivity
for Pt(IV), Au(III) and Pd(II) giving a capacity of 2.8 mmol/g, 3.1 mmol/g
and 2.0 mmol/g respectively. Acidic solutions, complexing agents, lipophil
ic anions and ammonia were used for metal elution. NaClO4 solutions are the
most effective eluting agents for Pt(IV) while thiourea is the best slippi
ng agent for both Pd(II) and Au(III). Selective separation of the three met
als can be achieved by sequential elution from the resin with NaClO4 soluti
ons in different HCl concentrations and thiourea 0.5 M.