Photo by Rwanda Green Fund on Flickr.com
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, and the University of Manchester have created a brand-new technique for recycling gold from used electronics. The novel technique allows for the exclusive separation of gold using a graphene membrane without the need for chemicals or energy due to its excellent electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance.
Therefore, recycling gold and precious metals from electronics is crucial. However, recuperation is sometimes a time-consuming, ineffective process that calls for chemical procedures.
The electronic trash is first dissolved in the solution in the new technique. The medium is then put into a membrane consisting of reduced graphene oxide, and after a few minutes, gold starts to build up on the membrane surface. With just 1 gram of graphene, about twice as much gold may be extracted. Graphene can function at concentrations as low as 1 ppb and can store more than 95% of gold (one per billion). When the membrane is burnt subsequently, only pure gold is left because the membrane cannot retain any other metals.
