Synthesis and efficiency of a spherical macroporous epoxy-polyamide chelating resin for preconcentrating and separating trace noble metal ions

A new spherical macroporous epoxy-polyamide chelating resin was synthesized from epoxy resin by simple and rapid means and used for the preconcentration and separation of trace noble metal ions from solution samples. The acidity, flow rate, reusability, capacity and interference with the adsorption of ions on the resin as well as the conditions of desorption of these ions from the resin are discussed. The results show that the relative standard deviations for the determination of 50 ng mL(-1) Au(III), Pt(IV) and Pd(IV) by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry are in the range of 0.5-3.6%. The procedure was applied to determine metal smelter samples with satisfactory results.