Preparation of nano silver powder from acid leaching tail in gold room

Abstract

According to the unique properties and many applications of nano silver powder, it was prepared from acid leaching tail solution. The low value residual gold and silver ions were occurred with fellow heavy metals as pollutants (Fe2+, Cu 2+ and Zn2+) in acid leaching tail solution in Mouteh gold mine in Iran. Preparation of nano silver particles was achieved in two steps: first, by addition of ammonia as a separation step and second by using different reagents as precipitation and extraction steps. Different controlled parameters were including pH, residence time and temperature, mixing time, and reducing reagents to metals molar ratio. Acid leaching process was carried out with sulphuric and nitric acid via suitable reductants. In order to remove copper, zinc, and silver ions from solution, all of the conditions were controlled. The optimum conditions for preparation of nano silver powder with less than 90 nm were pH 10.5, hydrazine/methanol to silver molar ratio of 3 to 4, and reduction time of 5 min in 45ºC. The results were evaluated via SEM, A.A and UV- Vis spectroscopy analytical methods.