Electrochemical Investigation of Gold Uptake From Chloride Solution by Magnetite

摘要

An electrochemical method (potential sweep method) was utilized to investigate the nature of the absorbed gold on magnetite and to determine the gold sorption mechanism. A magnetite electrode was prepared in the laboratory, made in contact with a gold chloride solution at different conditions, and was subjected to cyclic voltammetry. The cyclic voltammogram of the magnetite electrode pretreated in a gold chloride solution recorded an anodic current peak at around 1.0V (vs. Ag/AgCl), which corresponds to the current generated for the anodic dissolution of metallic gold in a chloride medium. The results of the electrochemical experiments suggest that gold chloride complexes are reduced to metallic gold on the surface of magnetite. A four-stage gold uptake mechanism was proposed: (i) the transport of