Light Activated Cation Separation

摘要

A method of separating one or more valuable metal cations from an ionic solution by (a) contacting the ionic solution with an activated photoisomerizable host molecule containing a photoisomerizable moiety and a host moiety, where the photoisomerizable moiety has first and second states, and where the host moiety has a greater affinity for a metal cation when the photoisomerizable moiety is in the first state (active binding state) than when the photoisomerizable moiety is in the second state (release state), so that an ion-host molecule association is formed, and (b) separating the ion-host molecule association from the ionic solution. Also disclosed are photoisomerizable host molecules, a method of recovering valuable metals from a waste stream using the photoisomerizable host molecules, and an apparatus comprising a photoisomerizable host molecule attached to a support.

主权项

1. A method of separating one or more metal cations from an ionic solution, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) contacting said ionic solution with a photoisomerizable host molecule comprising a photoisomerizable moiety and a host moiety, wherein the photoisomerizable moiety has first and second states, and wherein the host moiety has a greater affinity for a metal cation when the photoisomerizable moiety is in the first state (active binding state) than when the photoisomerizable moiety is in the second state (release state), so that an ion-host molecule association is formed; and (b) separating said ion-host molecule association from said ionic solution.