Electroless recovery of gold chloride using inherently conducting polymers

Conducting polymers deposited onto reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) were shown to remove gold from aqueous solutions in a facile and highly efficient fashion. For acidic solutions with initial AuCl₄]^? concentrations between 0.1 and 1000 ppm, gold recoveries >90% were obtained. Experiments, conducted using solutions containing 0.1 ppm AuCl₄]^?, also demonstrated that the composite materials were significantly more effective at recovering gold than activated carbon. Gold removal from solutions containing AuCl₄]^? and much higher concentrations of iron was highly selective. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry