Annually, about 50 million tons of electronic waste worldwide are generated, of which only a small part is recycled. The vast majority end in landfills or are incinerated, which aggravates environmental pollution and represents a huge loss of valuable materials.
New technique avoids use of toxic substances
In order to counteract this trend, a team of scientists has developed an innovative and sustainable way to extract gold from electronic waste without resorting to polluting chemical compounds such as cyanide, according to.
Inspiration in Environmental Sustainability
The investigation was carried out at the University of Cornell Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the United States, where a solution based on covalent organic structures, known by the acronym VCOF, emerged.
Elements that capture gold with precision
This method, led by researcher Amin Zadehnazari, uses compounds such as tetratiafluvalene (TTF) and tetrafenyletylene (TPE), which have specific chemical properties for attracting and retaining gold particles.
While the TTF proves to be effective to capture gold, thanks to its sulfur content, TPE ensures system resistance, allowing structures to be reused several times without loss of effectiveness.
Almost total recovery of precious metal
The same source states that during the laboratory tests, this technique proved to be able to extract 99.9% of the gold present in the waste, leaving other metals such as copper and nickel.
In addition to the recovery of gold, scientists were able to use the metal collected to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful compounds, thus contributing to reduce greenhouse gases.
Double ecological and economic advantage
This advance represents an innovation with double advantage: on the one hand, recovers valuable metals and, on the other, transforms one of the main weather pollutants into practical application products.
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A response to a growing problem
For Alright Abbaspourrad, co -author of the study, “the future of electronic waste requires sustainable and efficient solutions”, especially taking into account the continuous growth of this type of waste.
Alarming projections require urgent action
Predictions point out that by 2030 global production of electronic waste could reach 80 million metric tons, which reinforces the urgency of effective solutions, according to PPLware.
Selectivity in the extraction of precious metals becomes essential, not only for economic reasons, but also to avoid the environmental risks of the currently used methods.
Value garbage
The approach adopted by US researchers represents an important step in the revaluation of technological waste and the creation of a more effective circular economy.
This type of innovation can mark the beginning of a new era in the management of discarded electronic equipment, transforming what today is a problem into solution.
More gold in a mobile phone than a mine
According to investigators, a ton of electronic waste contains at least 10 times more gold than a ton of traditional ore, which reinforces the strategic value of this new technology.
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