Khaberni - A Chinese research team has discovered an innovative method to extract gold from electronic waste quickly and at a low cost, a step that could transform recycling of these byproducts globally and reduce reliance on traditional mining.
According to "Interesting Engineering", researchers at the Guangzhou Institute for Energy Conversion of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and South China University of Technology have developed a technology capable of extracting gold from discarded electronic devices in less than 20 minutes, at room temperature, with an efficiency exceeding 98.2% in central processing units (CPUs) of old phones and printed circuit boards (PCBs) of household appliances.
This method is the most cost-effective to date, as the processing cost for 10 kilograms of used circuit boards is about 72 US dollars to produce 1.4 grams of gold, equivalent to 1455 dollars per ounce, which is much lower than current market prices that exceeded 4400 dollars per ounce in January, with expectations of reaching more than 10,000 dollars per ounce by the end of the decade.
The process relies on a self-catalyzing filtration mechanism, which reduces reliance on toxic chemicals such as cyanide and decreases the amount of secondary waste produced, with the possibility of easily recovering dissolved metals to obtain high-purity gold.
This innovation comes at a time when the world is experiencing a rapid increase in electronic waste production, which amounts to about 2.6 million tons annually according to the World Health Organization, and is expected to reach 82 million tons by 2030, including computers, phones, household and medical equipment, which contain precious metals like gold and palladium, widely used for their high conductivity, stability, and corrosion resistance.
The results of the study were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, confirming that this technology represents a pioneering step towards recycling gold quickly, safely, and with high efficiency, while reducing the environmental impact compared to traditional methods.
