The use of palmitoyl hydroxyquinoline-functionalized amberlite XAD-2 copolymer resin for the preconcentration and speciation analysis of gallium(III)

Abstract

Gallium (Ga) is a valuable element in the electronics industry for manufacturing semiconductors and lasers. The processing of bauxite ores for the recovery of Ga, as well as high-level purification of the raw Ga product as required by electronic applications, necessitate effective speciation analysis of this element. For differentiating chemically important Ga(III) species, the Amberlite XAD-2 polystyrene-divinylbenzene copolymer was chloromethylated using AlCl3 as a catalyst, and later, 5-palmitoyl-8-hydroxyquinoline was covalently bound to this chloromethylated product via Friedel-Crafts reaction, resulting in the synthesis of a Ga-specific resin (Amberlite XAD-2-P.Ox).