Time-Dependent Ultrasonic Assisted Recovery of Platinum from Spent Removing Catalyst of Pt/Al2O3 by Acid Leaching

Abstract

A standard recovery of platinum (Pt) in a spent removing catalyst of Pt/Al2O3 was performed by acid leaching of aqua regia. The time-dependent extraction of Pt from Pt/Al2O3 showed that the percentage of the Pt in Pt/Al2O3 decreased by increasing the extraction time, which indicated an increase of the Pt in the leachate. Furthermore, a time-dependent ultrasonic-assisted extraction of Pt from Pt/Al2O3 was also performed. A small number of Pt content in the Pt/Al2O3 obtaining ultrasonic method revealed that the ultrasonic effectively enhanced the Pt extraction compared with standard extraction due to the agitation of high-frequency pressure (sound) waves. The further morphological analysis was also performed to study the morphological modification of Pt/Al2O3. Our results provide a good understanding of the recovery of Pt from spent removing catalyst of Pt/Al2O3 and give an alternative method to increase the Pt extraction.