A method for extracting metal ions from water is provided that includes disposing two electrically conductive electrodes in water, where the water includes a target ion species in solution, where at least one of the electrically conductive electrodes is a functionalized electrode having species-specific adsorption of the target ion species, and providing electrical current to the electrically conductive electrodes such that the one or more target ion species are deposited to metallic form or metal oxides at the functionalized electrode by one or more electrochemical reactions.

A method for recovering noble metal from a heterogeneous catalyst comprising a solid carrier material and palladium, platinum or rhodium, present at least partially in elemental form, said method comprising the steps of converting the noble metal to an oxidation state>0 by treating the heterogeneous catalyst with an oxidizing agent in the presence of hydrochloric acid so as to form a two-phase system A comprising a hydrochloric aqueous phase A1 and a solid phase comprising the carrier material which is insoluble therein, optionally, at least partially separating the hydrochloric aqueous phase A1 from the two-phase system A and adding a further aqueous phase to the remaining residue of the two-phase system A so as to form a two-phase system B comprising a hydrochloric aqueous phase and a solid phase comprising the carrier material insoluble therein.

A method for recovering noble metal from a heterogeneous catalyst comprising a solid carrier material and palladium, platinum or rhodium, present at least partially in elemental form, said method comprising the steps of converting the noble metal to an oxidation state>0 by treating the heterogeneous catalyst with an oxidizing agent in the presence of hydrochloric acid so as to form a two-phase system A comprising a hydrochloric aqueous phase A1 and a solid phase comprising the carrier material which is insoluble therein, optionally, at least partially separating the hydrochloric aqueous phase A1 from the two-phase system A and adding a further aqueous phase to the remaining residue of the two-phase system A so as to form a two-phase system B comprising a hydrochloric aqueous phase and a solid phase comprising the carrier material insoluble therein.

An electrochemical process implements, in a decoupled manner, a first step of electrolysis of an electrolyte to produce gaseous oxygen in a chamber and a second step of electrochemical conversion of H+ ions into gaseous hydrogen in a chamber which contains a liquid phase and a gas phase not dissolved in the liquid phase. Gaseous hydrogen produced in the conversion step is partly present in the gaseous headspace of chamber and as bubbles in the electrolyte, and partly dissolved in the electrolyte which is saturated with hydrogen. The electrolyte has at least one redox pair (A/B) forming at least one intermediate vector enabling the decoupling of the first and second steps. The interface between the gas and liquid phases is increased during the second step to accelerate the diffusion, from liquid phase to gas phase, of the dissolved hydrogen able to supersaturate the electrolyte. Pressurized gaseous hydrogen is then collected.

The invention relates to a method of removing and/or recovering metals from a dilute metal containing solution. In particular, the invention concerns a method for recovering copper from a dilute copper-iron bearing mining water, particularly from a copper-iron bearing mining wastewater.

The invention relates to a method of removing and/or recovering metals from a dilute metal containing solution. In particular, the invention concerns a method for recovering copper from a dilute copper-iron bearing mining water, particularly from a copper-iron bearing mining wastewater.

The present invention is related generally to recovering metals from waste electronics, and more particularly to a process to recover copper and gold commonly found in waste printed circuit boards using a lixiviant containing a weak acid such as citric acid or acetic acid, a particular concentration of table salt and an oxidizer. By using this lixiviant, the copper found in the printed circuit board reacts to form copper salts and gold becomes detached. Importantly this recovery method of copper and gold found in waste PCBs is fast, does not pose environmental hazards and is economically feasible.

The present invention is related generally to recovering metals from waste electronics, and more particularly to a process to recover copper and gold commonly found in waste printed circuit boards using a lixiviant containing a weak acid such as citric acid or acetic acid, a particular concentration of table salt and an oxidizer. By using this lixiviant, the copper found in the printed circuit board reacts to form copper salts and gold becomes detached. Importantly this recovery method of copper and gold found in waste PCBs is fast, does not pose environmental hazards and is economically feasible.

The present disclosure provides a method for extracting and recovering gold from an aqueous solution, the method including: (1) gold extraction from an aqueous solution through electrocoagulation, in which an electrocoagulation reaction is performed in an electrolytic cell to produce iron hydroxide in-situ, so as to capture gold in the aqueous solution and reduces the gold into gold nanoparticles in-situ; (2) pickling and liquefaction of the precipitated iron sludge, in which the obtained precipitate is dissolved in nitric acid to dissolve iron flocs after washing treatment; and (3) separation and recovery of gold through a nanofiltration membrane system, in which the resulting solution after pickling the precipitated iron sludge is subjected to cut-off treatment using a nanofiltration membrane to separate nano-sized elemental gold from the solution, and then the resultant is washed with water to obtain elemental gold. The extraction and recovery method of the present disclosure has characteristics of high gold extraction efficiency (up to 100%), low cost, simple process, good stability and environmental protection, and can recover high-grade elemental gold (with a comprehensive recovery rate greater than 95%). The method is of an important significance for technical guidance and practical engineering application for the extraction and recovery of gold in various gold smelting and extraction processes.

The present disclosure provides a method for extracting and recovering gold from an aqueous solution, the method including: (1) gold extraction from an aqueous solution through electrocoagulation, in which an electrocoagulation reaction is performed in an electrolytic cell to produce iron hydroxide in-situ, so as to capture gold in the aqueous solution and reduces the gold into gold nanoparticles in-situ; (2) pickling and liquefaction of the precipitated iron sludge, in which the obtained precipitate is dissolved in nitric acid to dissolve iron flocs after washing treatment; and (3) separation and recovery of gold through a nanofiltration membrane system, in which the resulting solution after pickling the precipitated iron sludge is subjected to cut-off treatment using a nanofiltration membrane to separate nano-sized elemental gold from the solution, and then the resultant is washed with water to obtain elemental gold. The extraction and recovery method of the present disclosure has characteristics of high gold extraction efficiency (up to 100%), low cost, simple process, good stability and environmental protection, and can recover high-grade elemental gold (with a comprehensive recovery rate greater than 95%). The method is of an important significance for technical guidance and practical engineering application for the extraction and recovery of gold in various gold smelting and extraction processes.