Selective adsorption of Au(III) with ultra-fast kinetics by a new metal-organic polymer

Abstract It has received increasing concern for the recovery of gold from aqueous solution with the ever-increasing production of electronics. Here, a novel metal-organic polymer was designed and prepared for effective and selective adsorption of low amounts of gold from liquid solutions. This material can adsorb the gold ions completely from low gold concentration (9 mg/L) with ultra-fast kinetics, and exhibits splendid adsorption selectivity toward Au(III) from complex metal mixtures containing 8 mg/L Au(III) and 1200 mg/L Cu(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Cd(II) and Ni(II). The material also has an exceptional adsorption capacity of 775.0 mg/g. Encouragingly, the material has excellent cyclability, which is an important property for its application in real environment. It is found that partial redox, complexation and electrostatic interaction involved in the adsorption process are responsible for the efficient adsorption. This material provides a promising adsorbent for removing trace gold from solutions.