Aliquat-336-impregnated alginate capsule (AIAC) was fabricated in a facile approach.
AIAC showed selectivity toward Au(III) in ternary metal mixture solution.
The maximum Au(III) uptake was 191.92 mg/g, which was about 10 times higher than those of Pt(IV) and Pd(II).
High-purity gold solutions of 97.06% and 98.49% were separately obtained from the low and high metal concentrations.