Extremely fast gold emulsion from electronic waste

Canadian scientists successfully devise a solvent that helps to extract gold from electronic waste faster, safer and cheaper.

According to Tech Times, more than 50 million tons of e-waste are disposed of in the world each year and 80% are dumped in landfills. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, have found a way to extract gold from electronic waste not only economically but also environmentally friendly. "This method can change the gold industry , " Foley said.

Gold is a chemical element difficult to dissolve, dialectical recovery form. The digging of gold requires large amounts of sodium cyanide chemicals that are harmful to the environment. Gold can be recovered by recycling electrical circuits and computer chips in electronic waste , but this process is both costly and bad for the environment.

The solution that Foley's team found was combining acetic acid with a small amount of other acids and an oxidizer. Thanks to this solution, gold extraction can take place in conditions that do not harm the environment. It also dissolves gold in electronic waste very quickly, helping to increase the efficiency of the recycling process.

The separation of gold from the circuit lasts only about 10 seconds , the fastest speed ever. To extract one kilogram of gold from the circuit board, the traditional method consumes 5,000 liters of aqua regia, a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. With the new method, researchers only need to use 100 liters of solvent created by them. The amount of solvent required to extract a kilogram of gold is only $ 50 and can be reused continuously.

Thanks to cheaper, faster and safer, the solvent developed by Foley and colleagues can revolutionize gold extraction. In the next step, researchers will find ways to put solvent into large-scale applications to recycle gold.