Surface-Functionalized Electrospun Titania Nanofibers for the Scavenging and Recycling of Precious Metal Ions

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• 作者：Dr. Yunqian Dai ; Dr. Eric Formo ; Haoxuan Li ; Dr. Jiajia Xue and Prof. Younan Xia
• 刊名：ChemSusChem
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：October 20, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：9
• 期：20
• 页码：2912-2916
• 全文大小：1034K
• ISSN：1864-564X

文摘

Precious metals are widely used as catalysts in industry. It is of critical importance to keep the precious metal ions leached from catalysts at a level below one part per million (ppm) in the final products and to recycle the expensive precious metals. Here we demonstrate a simple and effective method for scavenging precious metal ions from an aqueous solution and thereby reduce their concentrations down to the parts per billion (ppb) level. The key component is a filtration membrane comprised of titania (TiO₂) nanofibers whose surface has been functionalized with a silane bearing amino or thiol group. When operated under continuous flow at a rate of 1 mL min⁻¹ and at room temperature, up to 99.95 % of the Pd²⁺ ions could be removed from a stock solution with an initial concentration of 100 ppm. This work offers a viable strategy not only for the removal of precious metal ions but also for recovering and further recycling them for use as catalysts. For example, the captured Pd²⁺ ions could be converted to nanoparticles and used as catalysts for organic reactions such as Suzuki coupling in a continuous flow reactor. This system can be potentially applied to pharmaceutical industry and waste stream treatment.