In the current paper, the adsorption capability of gold from solution by activated carbon and functionalized graphene/carbon activated composite were studied. The results of AuCN2- adsorption on activated carbon showed that gold adsorption could reach 60 mg/g under the optimum conditions of pH = 9 and AuCN2- solution concentration = 1000 mg/l. Isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic studies of gold adsorption on activated carbon were also examined. The effects of new adsorbent concentration (i.e. functionalized graphene/activated carbon composite), pH and AuCN2- were analyzed. SEM, FT-IR and EDX were used to evaluate and measure the quality of adsorption. The results indicated that AuCN2- adsorption of 200 mg/g could be reached under the following solution conditions: pH of 9, AuCN2- concentration of 1000 mg/l. It was concluded that functionalized graphene/carbon activated composite could be considered a stronger adsorbent rather than activated carbon for AuCN2-. The experiment results were further validated through SEM and EDX results. (c) 2020 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.