Metals recovery method and polymer for use in metals re-covery and process for making such a polymer

摘要

A process of forming a porous polymer template material comprising poly­merising a monomer admixed with a compound of the metal to be recovered, followed by treatment of the polymer to remove the metal compound. The metal to be recovered may be rhenium and the metal compound ammonium perrhenate. The polymer may be formed by cross-linking a monomer, such as vinylpyridine, in the presence of a porogen, such as chloroform, and a metal salt. The metal can then be removed by treatment with acid to give the polymer template material. Once formed the polymer template may be comminuted. A method of selectively recovering a metal from a solution containing the metal ions comprises contacting the aforementioned porous polymer template material with the solution containing the metal ions, and recovering the metal from the polymer by treatment with hydrochloric acid.