Abstract
The thiosulfate method is a cyanide-free hydrometallurgical method for gold extraction, but the existence of copper ion in Cu2+–NH3–S2O32− system is not conducive to the subsequent gold(I) recovery. This paper describes a process for improving the gold(I) adsorption capacity of mercapto-functionalized silica gel (MP-SG) by using ethylenediamine (en) as an additive to mask copper(II). The effects of en/Cu2+ molar ratio, contact time, and pH on adsorption were investigated. The results showed that the addition of en increased the adsorption capacity of MP-SG to gold by more than 70%. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed that the valence states of gold and copper on the adsorbent were both + 1, which confirmed the occurrence of competitive copper(II) adsorption. This could be inhibited by the addition of en without affecting the interfacial properties of MP-SG. UV–vis spectroscopy and the distribution of copper species revealed that addition of en changed the composition of the solution, forming a more stable Cu(en)22+ complex, the fraction of Cu(en)22+ increased with en content, thus reducing the competitive adsorption of Cu(II) to gold (I). The recovery rate of gold in the actual thiosulfate leaching solution was up to 92.35%, and en has almost no influence on the recycling process of the recovered leaching liquor, which proves the feasibility of this method in practical application.
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Raw data for X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis spectroscopy supporting the results of this study are available in its supplementary information file. Should any raw data files be needed in another format they are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51674128). The authors sincerely thank the Key Laboratory of Chemical Separation Enrichment and Application in Yunnan Province Universities for their help and support.
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Li, J., Chen, S., Chen, Y. et al. Method for improving adsorption capacity of gold(I) thiosulfate complex on mercapto-functionalized silica gel by masking copper with ethylenediamine. Braz. J. Chem. Eng. 41, 325–337 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-023-00326-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-023-00326-x