Kinetic studies of sorption and reduction of gold(III) chloride complex ions on activated carbon Norit ROX 0.8

•Kinetic studies of gold(III) chloride complex ions recovery is shown.•The reaction mechanism and model is proposed.•The Thiele modulus used in the model was experimentally determined.

The kinetic studies of sorption and reduction of gold(III) chloride complex ions on activated carbon Norit ROX 0.8 were carried out. Experiments were performed at different initial concentrations of gold(III) chloride complex ions, agitation rates, temperature as well as initial mass of the adsorbent. SEM, XRD and XPS analyses have confirmed the presence of metallic gold on the activated carbon surface. XPS analysis showed that reduction of gold(III) ions is accompanied by the oxidation of phenolic hydroxide superficial groups. Kinetic equation of a first-order reaction was found suitable for process description.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide