"Urban mining" new technology quickly recovers precious metals from electronic waste
The British Independent reported that scientists have developed a new technology for extracting valuable metals from electronic waste. The energy consumption is 1/500 of the existing method, which can reduce the need for mining raw materials and the waste generated will not harm the environment. . "The largest waste has been turned into a treasure." This technology is based on the "flash Joule heating method". Joule thermal flash evaporation is an innovative method that can produce graphene from carbon sources such as wood and plastic. A research team from Rice University in Texas has improved the "Joule thermal flash evaporation method" to recover rhodium, palladium, gold, silver and other substances from waste for reuse. The new technology works by using electric current to rapidly heat waste to 3400K (3124°C), causing the aforementioned metals to evaporate into gas for separation, storage or disposal. The research team stated that "flash evaporation" can remove highly toxic heavy metals remaining in materials, such as chromium, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead, leaving by-products with extremely low metal content. With more than 40 million tons of electronic waste produced globally every year, this new form of "urban mining" has huge potential, giving technology companies the opportunity to avoid sourcing raw materials from countries and regions with security, corruption and conflict issues. "Here, the largest amounts of waste are turned into treasures," said Professor James Tour of Rice University. "This could reduce the need to mine ore, strip the surface and use large amounts of water in remote and dangerous areas around the world. The treasure of sex...is in our trash cans." Toole said cell phones, etc.