Sorption of silver, gold and palladium with a polythioether foam

Silver, gold and palladium can be sorbed by a thiopolymer of the type [HO(CH(2)CH(2)CH(2)SS)(n)CH(2)CH(2)OH]. The distribution coefficient for palladium increases with halide concentration, with iodide having the largest effect. Silver can be extracted from chloride, nitrate or picrate media. The different distribution coefficients for gold in hydrochloric acid and in sodium chloride suggest that different sorption mechanisms predominate.