The recovery of gold from thiourea solutions with open-cell polyurethane foams

The recovery of the gold-thiourea complex from aqueous solutions with TBP-loaded and unloaded polyurethane foams was investigated in batch experiments. The rates of adsorption of the gold complex on various types of loaded and unloaded foams were studied in detail and compared with the rate of adsorption on active carbon. Loaded and unloaded polyurethane foams of the polyether or polyester type behaved similarly to active carbon. The adsorption capacity of the foams was lower than that of active carbon but the use of foam simplifies the procedure by eliminating the filtration process which is necessary with carbon.