Do you already know that your old phones, laptops include gold? Yes, gold is used within the internal additives of a phone, along with the CPU, where it is utilized in bonding wires and plating for contacts.

In a prime breakthrough for cleaner era, researchers have advanced a brand new gold extraction method that avoids the usage of especially poisonous chemicals like cyanide and mercury, substances lengthy used in conventional mining but known to purpose extreme environmental harm.

Gold, prized for its value and huge commercial use, is mostly extracted via techniques that generate widespread pollution. Cyanide salts and mercury steel, commonly used to separate gold from ore, frequently leach into soil and water structures, inflicting lengthy-term ecological harm.

The pressing want for a more secure opportunity

Has pushed scientists to explore greater sustainable strategies, and now, a promising answer has emerged.

A group of researchers has created an modern technique that could extract gold now not just from ore however also from electronic waste inclusive of discarded phones, circuit boards, and different gadgets.

 This new method may want to have a large impact on reducing the environmental footprint. (image: Getty)

The approach uses trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA), a chemical compound commonly used in disinfectants, activated by way of a halide catalyst to dissolve gold from materials. This answer lets in the gold to be separated without the need for cyanide or mercury.

To recover the gold from the answer, the crew makes use of a in particular designed polysulfide polymer. This polymer acts like a sponge, binding handiest to gold particles and leaving other materials in the back of.

As soon as absorbed, the gold can be extracted from the polymer by means of heating it,

Resulting in excessive-purity gold ready for reuse.

The researchers tested this approach on each herbal gold ores and e-waste and located it to be incredibly powerful and environmentally friendly. Importantly, the substances used inside the technique are more sustainable and more secure to address, imparting a sensible direction toward eco-aware gold production.

This new method should have a considerable effect on reducing the environmental footprint of the global gold enterprise whilst additionally promoting the recycling of treasured metals from developing mountains of electronic waste.

If followed extensively, the approach could reshape how gold is mined and recovered, shifting the industry closer to a more sustainable and responsible future.

The info of the extraction process have been published within the magazine Nature Sustainability.

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