Adsorption of gold(III) on ionic imprinted amino-silica hybrid prepared from rice hull ash

Abstract

In this research, the adsorption of Au(III) ion on ionic imprinted amino-silica hybrid (Im-ASH) in aqueous solution has been studied. Im-ASH was synthesized via sol-gel technique using a solution of sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) from rice hull ash (RHA) as the precursor and Au(III) ion as the template. Adsorption was carried out in a batch system with variation of pH, contact time, and Au(III) ion concentration. The selectivity of adsorbent toward Au(III) was examined in the presence of Cu(II) ion. The result of the kinetic study demonstrated that the adsorption of Au(III) ion followed pseudo-second order. The optimum adsorption of Au(III) on Im-ASH and non-Im-ASH was obtained at pH of 3.0. Im-ASH was twice as selective toward Au(III) ion than ASH was.