Highly Selective Gold Recovery from e-Waste Using Porous MOF–Poly(ionic liquid) Hybrid Networks

Selective gold recovery from electronic waste is difficult due to its trace abundance and strong interference from excess metal ions. Here, we construct a porous MOF–poly(ionic liquid) hybrid network via in situ polymerization in a surfactant-free ionic liquid microemulsion containing MOF particles. The resulting hybrid network features interconnected ionic domains and a hierarchically porous architecture that enables molecular-level discrimination of Au(III) species. As a result, the material exhibits exceptional selectivity toward Au(III). In real leachates derived from discarded central processing units, near-quantitative gold removal (approximately 100%) is achieved under acidic conditions despite the extremely low gold concentration and a highly complex ionic background. Importantly, the selectively captured gold can be readily concentrated and recovered as elemental Au, enabling efficient enrichment from dilute electronic waste leachates. This work reveals mechanistic insights into gold adsorption selectivity in MOF–poly(ionic liquid) networks and demonstrates their practical potential for gold extraction from complex electronic waste streams.