A Triazine Membrane for Sustainable Acquisition of Au(III) from Wastewater

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 29; no. 9; p. 2051
• Main Authors: Shang, Ge, Dong, Haonan, Zhang, Yi, Zhang, Conghuan, Chen, Ting, He, Yunhua, He, Hongxing, Li, Weili, Deng, Xiujun, Nie, Zhifeng, Zhao, Sibiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2024
• Subjects: Adsorbents; Adsorption; Aqueous solutions; DFT calculations; Efficiency; Energy consumption; Fluorides; Gold; gold adsorption; Membrane separation; phase transition method; Polymers; Retention; selectivity; Supply and demand; triazine membrane; Japan; China; selectivity; triazine membrane; phase transition method; gold adsorption; DFT calculations
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules29092051

The recovery of Au(III) from solution using adsorbents in the form of granules or powders is challenging due to issues such as instability during the recovery process or mass loss caused by small particle size. This study introduces a PEI-TCT/PVDF composite membrane designed to intercept and capture Au(III) in wastewater. Experimental results demonstrated that the PEI-TCT/PVDF membrane exhibits a broad pH range (1-8) and a high retention efficiency for Au(III) of 97.8%, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 294.5 mg/g. The mechanism of Au(III) adsorption on the PEI-TCT/PVDF membrane was mainly through electrostatic adsorption, which caused AuCl to aggregate on the surface of the membrane and gradually reduced to Au and Au . Furthermore, the membrane can be entirely regenerated within 20 min and maintains its performance in subsequent adsorption cycles. This study highlights the potential of PEI-TCT/PVDF membranes for the recovery of precious Au(III).