Separation of rhodium(III) and iridium(IV) chlorido complexes using polymer microspheres functionalized with quaternary diammonium groups

Merrifield resin functionalized with different quaternary diammonium groups derived from ethylenediamine (EDA), tetramethylenediamine (TMDA), hexamethylenediamine (HMDA), 1,8-diaminooctane (OMDA), 1,10-diaminodecane (DMDA) and 1,12-diaminododecane (DDMDA) were investigated for the separation of [RhCl₅(H₂O)]²⁻ and [IrCl₆]²⁻. Selective loading of [IrCl₆]²⁻ in 6 M HCl medium onto the column was achieved in the presence of [RhCl₅(H₂O)]²⁻ by the synthesized sorbents. The iridium loading capacities were 3.80, 6.49, 13.07, 19.29, 27.09 and 4.36 mg/g for EDA, TMDA, HMDA, OMDA, DMDA and DDMDA-functionalized microspheres, respectively. The materials showed great potential for application in separating rhodium and iridium from aqueous HCl solutions.