2015 Volume 56 Issue 8 Pages 1294-1301
Cadmium(II) is not only hazardous but is also an impurity in the leachate of electronic waste which is processed during the extraction of valuable metals. This research focuses on the removal of cadmium from the leachate of e-waste containing Cu, Ni, Sn, Pb, Cd, Zn and Au using a solvent impregnated resin (SIR). The studies performed for the extraction of cadmium from the high acidity chloride solution showed the effective removal of cadmium forming solvation compound with Cyanex 923 impregnated Amberlite XAD-7HP resin. In the adsorption studies, the kinetics was found to be a second-order rate and followed a Langmuir isotherm. The results also showed that SIR comprising Cyanex 923 is effective for adsorption of zinc and gold from the leachate. The loaded metals on the SIR were separated by using selective eluents, water for Cd and Zn, whereas thiourea eluted Au. The remaining metals in the raffinate could be further processed to recover valuables after removing cadmium and other metals by a suitable hydrometallurgical processes.
