Recovery of Antimony from Secondary Sources: Extraction Strategies and Analytical Approaches

Antimony (Sb) is a key element used in flame retardants, lead–acid batteries, and polymer catalysis, and it is classified as a critical raw material. Its quantity for the worldwide economy is limited due to restricted natural resources and partial recycling of by-products. This is why recovering Sb from secondary sources is becoming increasingly important in terms of technological and economic aspects for ensuring its sustainable and safety supply. In this paper, we review the possibilities for extraction of antimony from various waste sources, such as ore processing and metal recovery residues, electronic and plastic waste, lead-antimony-containing waste, spent catalysts, fluorescent lamps, incinerated municipal waste, and the applied methods of waste processing (pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, solvometallurgy) used to achieve recovery in high yield and purity. The methods for antimony quantification and speciation are also discussed and described in terms of principle of the technique, linear concentration range, limit of detection, and coupling with other techniques. As the concentration of Sb in environmental and biological samples is usually very low and requires good selectivity and sensitivity of the analytical method, suitable techniques for sample preparation and subsequent instrumental measurement are also included.