Separation and concentration of molybdenum(VI) and tungsten(VI) with chelating ion-exchange resins containing sulphur ligands

Three chelating ion-exchange resins based on macroreticular polyacrylonitrile-divinylbenzene copolymers with thioglycollic acid and cysteine as functional groups have been tested for separation of molybdenum(VI) and tungsten(VI). On a short column of the thioglycollic acid resin, molybdenum(VI) and tungsten(VI) can be selectively sorbed from pH-4.3 acetate buffer and eluted with 2M hydrochloric acid and a mixture of 0.1M sodium hydroxide and 0.1M sodium chloride, respectively, with quantitative recovery even at very low concentrations. Simulated sea-water samples have been analysed.