Sustainable cutting-edge techniques for gold valorization from electronic wastes

Abstract

In recent years, electronic waste (E-waste) has emerged as a severe risk to worldwide environmental security and human health because it contains many hazardous chemicals of heavy metals, plastics, flame retardants, etc. Notably, gold - one of the noblest metals - consisted of E-waste that can be reused not only to save natural resources but also to curtail the harsh effect on the environment of mineral exploitation and engineering new products in the future. Highly porous material platforms made up of either metal ions or organic ligand-linked clusters have gained attention owing to specific properties including high surface area, tunable pore sizes, and the ability to selectively adsorb gold ions. This review discusses the recent advances and progress of porous structure-based materials for the recent application in recycling gold from E-waste. Moreover, the current difficulties and future advancements of novel and unique porous structure-introduced platforms in recycling gold derived from E-waste are also discussed by exhibiting reusability, high selectivity, stability, and easiness in handling.