Improved separation of palladium from base metals by cation-exchange chromatography

The influence of resin cross-linkage, particle size and column flow-rate on the uptake of traces of palladium together with the base metals during the separation of palladium from base metals by cation-exchange chromatography was investigated. From this an improved method for the separation of palladium from copper, Ni, Fe(III), Zn, Mg, Ca, Al and Mn was developed using a 4% cross-linked resin. Only ca. 0.1% or less of the palladium remained with the base metal when from 1 μg up to 50 mg of palladium were separated from 500 mg of copper. A relevant elution curve, results of quantitative separations and information about the amounts of palladium remaining with the base metal when various resins and experimental conditions are used are presented.