Separation of cobalt from nickel in ammonia-ammonium carbonate solutions using pressurized ion exchange

High resolution pressurized ion exchange has been used successfully to study and separate the various cobalt and nickel complexes present in commercial ammonia-ammonium carbonate solutions produced by the Caron process. Using chromatographic elution from Dowex 50W-X8 (15–25 micron) resin with ammonium carbonate solutions, three cobalt species, identified as the purple carbonato tetrammine complex, [Co(NH₃)₄CO₃]⁺, the red carbonato pentammine complex, [Co(NH₃)₅CO₃]⁺, and the yellow hexammine complex [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺, were separated from a single nickel species. Nickel sorption was found to be a strong function of pH, whereas sorption of the cobalt complexes was essentially independent of pH over a rather wide range, extending from ～pH 7.8 to 10. Distribution ratios for all species increased significantly with decreasing ammonium carbonate concentration. With ammonium carbonate solution at pH 9.5, the complexes were eluted in the following order: [Co(NH₃)₄CO₃]⁺, [Co(NH₃)₅CO₃]⁺, [Ni(NH₃)_6-x(H₂O)_x]²⁺, and [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺. From 4 M (NH₄)₂CO₃, distribution ratios were 5.0, 7.5, 18, and 75 for the respective complexes identified in the order above. This study points out some of the difficulties and opportunities in developing a viable ion exchange process for the recovery and separation of these metal ions.