Selective and rapid extraction of trace amount of gold from complex liquids with silver(I)-organic frameworks

The design of adsorbents for rapid, selective extraction of ultra-trace amounts of gold from complex liquids is desirable from both an environmental and economical point of view. However, the development of such materials remains challenging. Herein, we report the fabrication of two vinylene-linked two-dimensional silver(I)-organic frameworks prepared via Knoevenagel condensation. This material enables selective sensing of gold with a low limit of detection of 60 ppb, as well as selective uptake of ultra-trace gold from complex aqueous mixtures including distilled water with 15 competing metal ions, leaching solution of electronic waste (e-waste), wastewater, and seawater. The present adsorbent delivers a gold adsorption capacity of 954 mg g−1, excellent selectivity and reusability, and can rapidly and selectively extract ultra-trace gold from seawater down to ~20 ppb (94% removal in 10 minutes). In addition, the purity of recovered gold from e-waste reaches 23.8 Karat (99.17% pure).