Traditional methods for the recovery of gold from electronic scrap by hydrometallurgy were cyanidation followed by adsorption on
activated carbon or cementation onto zinc dust and by electrowinning. In our studies, a static batch electrochemical reactor operating in
an electrogenerative mode was used in gold recovery from cyanide solutions. A spontaneous chemical reaction will take place in the reactor
and generate an external flow of current. In this present work, a static batch cell with an improved design using three-dimensional
cathodes namely porous graphite and reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) and two-dimensional cathode materials, copper and stainless
steel plates were coupled with a zinc anode. The electrogenerative system was demonstrated and the performance of the system using
various cathode materials for gold recovery was evaluated. The system resulted in more than 90% gold being recovered within 3 h of
operation. Activated RVC serves as a superior cathode material having the highest recovery rate with more than 99% of gold being
recovered in 1 h of operation. The morphology of gold deposits on various cathode materials was also investigated.
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