Selective Recovery of Precious Metals by a Novel Lignin Gel

Abstract

For the recovery of precious metals like Au(III), Pd(II) and Pt(IV), dimethylamine immobilized crosslinked, lignophenol gel, a novel lignin gel, was prepared from wood powder. Its adsorption behavior for Au(III), Pt(IV) and Pd(II) ions in hydrochloric acid medium was studied. The gel was found to adsorb all three precious metals quantitatively irrespective of the concentration of hydrochloric acid while it was found to be inert towards other base metals such as Cu(II), Zn(II), Ni(II), and Fe(III). This kind of performance of the novel gel can be promising for the low cost recovery of precious metals from electrical and electronic wastes by utilizing nature friendly materials.