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Researchers Create Ecological Sponge That Can Extract Gold From Old Computers
In a promising advancement for electronic recycling, Swiss researchers have developed an ecological sponge that can extract gold from old computers. Besides being a more sustainable solution, this innovation uses 50% less energy than conventional methods.
Here’s a breakthrough that could change the game in electronic recycling! A clever team from ETH Zurich in Switzerland decided to invent an ecological sponge to extract gold from old computers. That’s right, the hidden gold in electronic waste that we never imagined was there. And the best part: the whole process consumes half the energy that conventional methods use.
Magic Sponge That Pulls Gold Like A Magnet
Professor Raffaele Mezzenga and his team deserve an award for this idea. They took whey proteins, transformed them into nanofibrils, and created a magic sponge that pulls gold like a magnet. In tests, they managed to extract a 22-carat gold nugget weighing 450 milligrams from 20 old computer motherboards. That amounts to about R$ 164 at today’s rate, without consuming much energy and without using toxic chemicals.
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How The Ecological Sponge Works
So how did they do this? First, they dissolved the metallic parts of the motherboards in an acidic bath, ionizing the metals. Then, they threw the sponge into this solution and, like magic, the gold ions were attracted to the fibers of the sponge. They heated the sponge to transform the gold ions into flakes and then melted the flakes to make the nugget.
Professor Mezzenga explained that electronic waste is a mine of valuable metals, but so far the techniques for recovering these metals consume a lot of energy and use dangerous chemicals. The ecological sponge changes this scenario, being a cheaper and less polluting alternative.
The Team Now Wants To Take This Technology To Market
“The most amazing thing is that we are using a byproduct of the food industry to recover gold from electronic waste”, said Professor Raffaele. The team now wants to take this technology to market and see if it’s possible to make sponges with other disposable byproducts. “You can’t get more sustainable than this!” he concluded.
This ecological sponge promises to revolutionize electronic recycling, allowing gold to be recovered from old computers in a more sustainable and economical way. It remains to be seen if the industry will adopt this innovation and help reduce the environmental impact of electronic waste. Let’s hope so, right?
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