Precious metals such as gold and platinum are valued materials for a variety of important applications, but their scarcity poses a risk of supply interruption. However, the dissolution and recovery of precious metals using the current methods are limited by associated serious environmental pollution and high energy consumption. Here, we show a photocatalytic process that allows one to selective retrieve 7 kinds of precious metal elements (Ag, Au, Pd, Pt, Ru, Rh and Ir) (with dissolution efficiency of 99%) from waste circuit boards, ternary automotive catalysts and even ores. Precious metals is recovered with high purity (≥98%) through a simple reductive method. The whole process only needs light and catalyst without strong acid, strong base and highly toxic cyanide. It has an environmentally friendly, scalable and efficient way, in which the catalyst has been recycled more than 100 times under normal temperature and pressure without performance degradation. It has successfully realized the scale of dissolution from grams to kilograms, and it is expected to realize large-scale recovery of precious metals in industrial application. This general approach provides an unprecedent technology for recycling resources on earth.
Designing high‐efficiency photocatalysts with high charge separation and rapid charge transfer still a challenge. Herein, highly effective g‐C3N4/NH2–UIO‐66 (CNU) hybrids are developed using an engineered ZrN bond between the two components. The formation of the ZrN bond provides an electron transfer pathway between the conduction band (CB) of g‐C3N4 (CN) and Zr centers, which shortens the carrier migration distance, greatly enhancing the separation efficiency of photogeneration carriers. The as‐prepared CNU shows an outstanding performance for photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) under visible light irradiation due to the rapid charge carrier interfacial transfer. This work provides a promising strategy for the design of efficient photocatalysts and helps to establish an effective and sustainable method for removing Cr(VI) under ambient conditions.
Precious metals such as gold and platinum are valued materials for a variety of important applications, but their scarcity poses a risk of supply interruption. However, the dissolution and recovery of precious metals using the current methods are limited by associated serious environmental pollution and high energy consumption. Here, we show a photocatalytic process that allows one to selective retrieve 7 kinds of precious metal elements (Ag, Au, Pd, Pt, Ru, Rh and Ir) (with dissolution efficiency of 99%) from waste circuit boards, ternary automotive catalysts and even ores. Precious metals is recovered with high purity (≥98%) through a simple reductive method. The whole process only needs light and catalyst without strong acid, strong base and highly toxic cyanide. It has an environmentally friendly, scalable and efficient way, in which the catalyst has been recycled more than 100 times under normal temperature and pressure without performance degradation. It has successfully realized the scale of dissolution from grams to kilograms, and it is expected to realize large-scale recovery of precious metals in industrial application. This general approach provides an unprecedent technology for recycling resources on earth.
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