A three-dimensional
porous MoS2/chitosan (MoS2/CS) aerogel with
excellent mechanical strength and stability was
constructed in this work through anchoring MoS2 to the
surface of the CS aerogel. It is found that the MoS2/CS
aerogel can effectively recover gold from thiosulfate solution via
direct in situ reduction of Au(I) to Au0 under sunlight,
thus realizing the one-step recovery of gold, which greatly benefits
the development of thiosulfate leaching for gold extraction. Furthermore,
according to the results of photocurrent, ultraviolet–visible
absorption, and atomic absorption spectrophotometry, it has been found
that the reduction of the MoS2/CS aerogel to Au(I) is mainly
consisted of photoreduction and chemical reduction, where photoreduction
plays a dominant role, primarily because of the narrow band gap and
higher conduction band edge of the MoS2/CS aerogel as well
as the strong reducibility of photogenerated electrons.