Selective Recovery of Gallium, Indium, and Thallium from Aqueous Waste Streams
This community focuses on the chemical separation and extraction of gallium, indium, and thallium from liquid waste streams, primarily to recover valuable semiconducting metals and remove toxic contaminants from industrial effluents.
The research centers on developing selective adsorbents, ion-exchange resins, and solvent extraction processes for gallium and indium recovery from sources such as Bayer liquor, coal fly ash leachate, and electronic waste. A significant portion of the work addresses the removal of thallium from water and wastewater, utilizing materials like biochar composites, metal-organic frameworks, and functionalized silica. Common methods include leaching, adsorption, and selective separation in acidic or neutral aqueous solutions. The work frequently involves the design of specific ligands, such as amidoximes or hydroxamic acids, to target these specific metal ions in complex mixtures.
The largest share of the community's output is found in thallium research, accounting for 16.0% of all thallium research, with 2,589 papers here. Indium research contributes 1,334 papers, representing 1.0% of that element's total research, while gallium research contributes 874 papers, or 0.5% of its total.
The community comprises 6,040 papers, with the highest publication volume in Separation and Purification Technology, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Journal of Hazardous Materials. Recent work continues to focus on the design of new adsorbents for gallium capture from industrial liquors and the analysis of supply chains for indium and gallium derived from electronic waste.