Ulziikhuu Otgonbayar, began her master’s thesis on April 1, 2022, in INEMET about “Separation and Recovery of platinum group metals from Chloride Solutions by Solvent Extraction” in the framework of the RECYCALYSE project.

Given the outstanding results, the master thesis received Stifterverbandes Metalle prize from the GDMB Society of Metallurgists and Miners. This master’s thesis was performed within the international programme SINReM (The International Master of Science in Sustainable and Innovative Natural Resource Management).

The aim of the thesis was to develop an efficient solvent extraction process for spent PEM electrodes and investigate the optimal parameters of the extraction process. The study was focused on the extraction of Platinum (Pt), Ruthenium (Ru), and Iridium (Ir) from HCl-medium using commercial extractants. The optimized experimental conditions were extended for the recovery of Pt, Ru, and Ir from the real solution of the spent electrocatalyst. The main objective of this work was to achieve the selective separation of Pt from Ir by a systematic study of solvent extraction conditions.