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Adsorption recovery of Ag(I) and Au(III) from an electronics industry wastewater on a clay mineral composite

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Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the ability of an adsorbent of a clay mineral composite to remove and recover gold and silver ions from wastewater. The composite was prepared by mixing phosphogypsum (PG), obtained from an industrial waste, and a natural clay mineral. The materials were characterized before and after use in adsorption by several techniques. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out, and the effects of the contact time and the pH and temperature of solution on the removal processes were investigated. The optimum pH for the adsorption was found to be 4. The adsorption of these metal ions reached equilibrium after 2 h of contact. The pseudo-first- and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models, as well as the Freundlich and the Langmuir isotherm equations, were considered to describe the adsorption results. The maximum adsorbed amount of 85 mg·g−1 Ag(I) and 108.3 mg·g−1 Au(III) was found. The recovery of the adsorbed gold and silver ions from the adsorbent was also analyzed. Strong acids appeared to be the best desorption agents to recover gold and silver ions. The use of aqua regia gave regeneration rates close to 95.3% and 94.3% for Ag(I) and Au(III), respectively. Finally, the removal of gold and silver ions from an industrial wastewater was tested in batch experiments, and percentage recoveries of 76.5% and 79.9% for Ag(I) and Au(III), respectively, were obtained. To carry out the industrial application of the proposed methodology, an economic viability study is required.

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Acknowledgement

Gil thanks Santander Bank for funding through the Research Intensification Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique et de Chimie Bioorganique, Université Hassan II de Casablanca, BP 146, Mohammedia, 20650, Morocco

    Youness Rakhila, Abdellah Elmchaouri, Allal Mestari & Meriem Abouri

  2. INAMAT-Science Department, Los Acebos Building, Public University of Navarra, Campus of Arrosadia, Pamplona, E-31006, Spain

    Sophia Korili & Antonio Gil

Authors
  1. Youness Rakhila
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  2. Abdellah Elmchaouri
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  3. Allal Mestari
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  4. Sophia Korili
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  5. Meriem Abouri
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  6. Antonio Gil
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Correspondence to Antonio Gil.

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Rakhila, Y., Elmchaouri, A., Mestari, A. et al. Adsorption recovery of Ag(I) and Au(III) from an electronics industry wastewater on a clay mineral composite. Int J Miner Metall Mater 26, 673–680 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1777-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1777-x

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