Gold recovery using fabrics coated with conducting polymers

Conducting polymer coated fabrics were found to recover gold from solutions containing [AuCl4](-) in a facile and selective fashion. Although the fabric substrates also demonstrated a significant ability to recover gold, the rate of uptake by the coated fabrics was significantly faster. Conducting polymer coated fabrics also recovered gold from solutions containing [Au(CN)(2)](-), however, little selectivity was observed when solutions containing both gold and copper cyanide complexes were examined.