S-bearing chelating resins have been successfully employed for the recovery of Pd(II) and Pt(IV) from a variety of sources including wastewater. In the present study, four different chelating resins each containing sulphur as the donor atom(s) viz., R1, R2, R3 and R4 as synthesized in this laboratory and two commercially available chelating resins viz., C1 containing thiol group and C2 containing thio-uronium group procured from Ion-Exchange India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, were taken for carrying out sorption studies of Pd(II) and Pt(IV) and their separation from wastewater obtained from Johnson Matthey Company, Taloja, Mumbai. The resin R1 contains hexylthioglycolate functional group supported on poly-(styrene-DVB- methylmethacrylate). The resin R2 also contains hexylthioglycolate functional group but supported on poly-(ethylacrylate-acrylonitrile-DVB). The resins R3 and R4 possess diphenyldisulphide functional group supported on poly-(styrene-DVB-methyl-methacrylate) and poly-(ethylacrylate-acrylonitrile-DVB), respectively. The sorption studies using synthesized and commercial resins with aqueous solutions of Pd(II) and Pt(IV) have been performed using batch equilibration method. The recovery of Pd(II) and Pt(IV) from an industrial wastewater sample using R1, R2, R3, R4, C1 and C2 have also been accomplished. The concentration of metal ions in solutions was determined using ICP-AES technique. The percent recovery values from industrial wastewater for Pd(II) have been found to be ≥ 95 and those for Pt(IV) ≥ 93 with resins R1, R2, R3, R4, C1 and C2 . Furthermore, the percent recovery values of Pd(II) and Pt(IV) ions using synthesized resins R1, R2, R3 and R4 appear to be somewhat better as compared to those obtained with the commercial resins (C1 and C2).
