Developing new reagent for selectively precipitation of molybdenum from tungstate solution

Based on the difference of microscopic properties between MoS24- and WO24- , a series of new reagents,CuS, NiS, CoS, PbS, HgS, as well as ZnS, were developed for separation of molybdenum from tungstate solution.GPT(Generalized Perturbation Theory) calculation reveals they are more reactive with MoS42- than WO24-. In labo-ratory test, CoS, NiS and CuS can remove more than 99.3%Mo. PbS and FeS are also effective for precipitation ofMo, but HgS and ZnS are almost useless. Taking environment and economy factors into consideration, CuS is cho-sen as the most suitable reagent.