The technology involves synthesis scheme of novel copper selective ligand grafted polymeric resins developed at Hydrometallurgy Section, MP&CED, BARC. It involves the chemical modification of 

commercially available imino-di-acetic acid cation exchange resins (weakly acidic) to copper selective polymeric resins. The optimization of the reaction conditions has confirmed the quantitative chemical

modification of iminodiacetic acid functionality of commercial resin to moieties responsible for selective uptake of copper. The chemicals modification does not alter the physical properties of the resin, 

including the pore size/area, morphology, and mechanical integrity. The resin remained stable in the acidic conditions and has shown remarkable recyclability, providing promise for uses for large number of

cycles. Further, its application in recovery of copper from electronic waste via hydrometallurgical route has been established and offered as technology transfer.

This technology is ideally suited for indigenous ion exchange resin manufacturers.

• Highly selective resin for copper, with loading capacity ~65-70 g/Kg
• Highly stable
• Ease of recyclability

This resin offers high uptake capacity > 60 mg/g Cu with very high selectivity for Cu which is required for recovery of copper from e-waste leach liquors. The recyclability of the resin is also over 100 cycles, hence ideal for plant scale applications.  

• Selective recovery of copper from electronic and electrical waste
• Separation of borderline acid metals e.g. Pb, Ni, Co, etc. from acidic aqueous streams
• For recovery of soft metals e.g. Pd, Hg, etc. from acidic aqueous streams

The technology involves synthesis scheme of novel copper selective ligand grafted polymeric resins developed at Hydrometallurgy Section, MP&CED, BARC. It involves the chemical modification of commercially

available imino-di-acetic acid cation exchange resins (weakly acidic) to copper selective polymeric resins. The optimization of the reaction  conditions has confirmed the quantitative chemical modification of 

iminodiacetic acid functionality of commercial resin to moieties responsible for selective uptake of copper. The chemicals modification does not alter the physical properties of the resin, including the 

pore size/area, morphology, and mechanical integrity. The resin remained stable in the acidic conditions and has shown remarkable recyclability, providing promise for uses for large number of cycles. Further, 

its application in recovery of copper from electronic waste via hydrometallurgical route has been established and offered as technology transfer. This technology is ideally suited for indigenous ion exchange resin manufacturers.

Various weakly acidic cation exchangers show major limitations with regard to selectivity and uptake capacity. For example, very few resins are reported for recovery of copper from acidic solution and none for selective 

recovery of copper from e-waste leach liquors. In recent years recycling of copper is seen as one of the major steps towards management of electronic waste (urban mining), which not only helps in mitigation of pollution 

but also caters to demand of high purity copper (>99.5%). One of the major portion of e-waste is Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) which contain about 10% Copper along with other metals Pb, Sn, Fe, Al, Ni, etc. The novel

resin has been designed specifically for enabling environmentally concerned urban miners and recyclers to achieve large scale production of high purity copper compound in continuous mode operation by recycling PCBs

 via hydrometallurgy route.  The resin has remarkable uptake capacity, selectivity and recyclability, so having the potential to make metal recycling highly profitable.

This resin offers high uptake capacity > 60 mg/g Cu with very high selectivity for Cu which is required for recovery of copper from e-waste leach liquors. The recyclability of the resin is also over 100 cycles, hence ideal for plant scale applications.  

Selective recovery of copper from electronic and electrical waste

Separation of borderline acid metals e.g. Pb, Ni, Co, etc. from acidic aqueous streams

For recovery of soft metals e.g. Pd, Hg, etc. from acidic aqueous streams

• Highly selective resin for copper, with loading capacity ~65-70 g/Kg
• Highly stable
• Ease of recyclability

i. Organic chemicals storage facility

ii. Organic Reactor unit

iii. Solvent regeneration unit

iv. Resin characterization facility

v. Packing and storage unit