Tailoring the Asymmetric Structure of NH2 -UiO-66 Metal-Organic Frameworks for Light-promoted Selective and Efficient Gold Extraction and Separation

Designing adsorption materials with high adsorption capacities and selectivities is highly desirable for precious metal recovery. Desorption performance is also particularly crucial for subsequent precious metal recovery and adsorbent regeneration. Herein, a metal-organic framework (MOF) material (NH₂ -UiO-66) with an asymmetric electronic structure of the central zirconium oxygen cluster has an exceptional gold extraction capacity of 2.04 g g^-1 under light irradiation. The selectivity of NH₂ -UiO-66 for gold ions is up to 98.8 % in the presence of interfering ions. Interestingly, the gold ions adsorbed on the surface of NH₂ -UiO-66 spontaneously reduce in situ, undergo nucleation and growth and finally achieve the phase separation of high-purity gold particles from NH₂ -UiO-66. The desorption and separation efficiency of gold particles from the adsorbent surface reaches 89 %. Theoretical calculations indicate that -NH₂ functions as a dual donor of electrons and protons, and the asymmetric structure of NH₂ -UiO-66 leads to energetically advantageous multinuclear gold capture and desorption. This adsorption material can greatly facilitate the recovery of gold from wastewater and can easily realize the recycling of the adsorbent.

Porous Covalent Organic Framework Based Hydrogen-Bond Nanotrap for the Precise Recognition and Separation of Gold

Utilizing weak interactions to effectively recover and separate precious metals in solution is of great importance but the practice remains a challenge. Herein, we report a novel strategy to achieve precise recognition and separation of gold by regulating the hydrogen-bond (H-bond) nanotrap within the pore of covalent organic frameworks (COFs). It is found that both COF-HNU25 and COF-HNU26 can efficiently capture Au^III with fast kinetics, high selectivity, and uptake capacity. In particular, the COF-HNU25 with the high density of H-bond nanotraps exhibits an excellent gold uptake capacity of 1725 mg g^-1 , which is significantly higher than that (219 mg g^-1 ) of its isostructural COF (COF-42) without H-bond nanostrap in the pores. Importantly, the uptake capacity is strongly correlated to the number of H-bonds between phenolic OH in the COF and [AuCl₄ ]^- in water, and multiple H-bond interactions are the key driving force for the excellent gold recovery and reusability of the adsorbent.