Properties and mechanism for selective adsorption of Au(iii) on an ionic liquid adsorbent by grafting -methyl imidazole onto chloromethylated polystyrene beads.

To recover Au(iii) from an acidic chloride-containing solution efficiently, an ionic liquid absorbent (CMPS-IL) was synthesized by grafting -methyl imidazole onto chloromethylated polystyrene beads (CMPS). The adsorption capacity, selectivity, and reusability were systematically evaluated by a series of adsorption experiments. The maximum adsorption capacity reached up to 516.5 mg g at 318 K. The adsorbent can selectively recover Au(iii) from binary system solutions with a higher separation factor (10-10). Moreover, the adsorption-desorption cycles (7 cycles) showed that the CMPS-IL maintained a stable adsorption performance and high adsorption efficiency. Finally, the adsorption mechanism of CMPS-IL for Au(iii) was investigated by SEM, TEM, XPS, and FT-IR, then proposed with a combination of electrostatic interactions and d-π interaction between imidazolium and AuCl . This study provides an easily-prepared and economical adsorbent for Au(iii) with high selectivity and large adsorption capacity to boost its practical applications.