Construction of MoS 2 @Activated Alumina Beads as Catalysts for Rapid Gold Recovery from Au(S 2 O 3 ) 2 3- Solution.

Gold recovery from thiosulfate leaching solution Au(S 2 O 3 ) 2 3- is regarded as a tough task because of the low efficiency and complex procedure in current technology, which hindered the industrial application of this eco-friendly technique. In this work, a MoS 2 @activated alumina bead composite (MoS 2 @AA) was constructed through a simple hydrothermal anchoring method and served as a catalyst to recover gold from Au(S 2 O 3 ) 2 3- solution for the first time. The microstructure and chemical component of MoS 2 @AA were systematically analyzed. In addition, batch experiments were carried out to explore the recovery behavior of Au(S 2 O 3 ) 2 3- (concentration: 10 to 200 ppm). Ascribing to the extraordinary optical property of MoS 2 @AA, Au(S 2 O 3 ) 2 3- could be directly reduced to Au 0 by photogenerated electrons and then form a two-phase interface of gold/MoS 2 @AA. As a result, the recovery of Au(S 2 O 3 ) 2 3- can reach up to 98% on MoS 2 @AA, which was much higher than traditional methods. More importantly, the reduced Au 0 could be desorbed from MoS 2 @AA through a supersonic method, achieving one-step Au 0 recovery from Au(S 2 O 3 ) 2 3- . This novel strategy used in this research has great significance to the development of Au(S 2 O 3 ) 2 3- recovery in the future.