#GoldExtraction from #EWaste gets 10 times more efficient with new sponge material

Researchers developed a nanoscale cross-dimensional composite material via self-assembly of two-dimensional graphene oxide and one-dimensional chitosan macromolecules.

By Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Oct 27, 2024

"Researchers have developed a new type of material that’s 10 times more efficient at extracting gold from e-waste than previous adsorbents. Developed by chemists and materials scientists at the National University of Singapore, the material is a type of sponge made of #GrapheneOxide and #chitosan [shrimp shells].

"The material can reportedly transform the way gold is extracted from electronic wastes, which has been described so far as a dirty business with low yields and results in toxic #pollutants.

"The cheaper, cleaner and efficient method was tested by researchers using real e-waste provided by a recycling company."

[...]

"While the present work focused on gold, the team say the technique could be adapted to recover other valuable metals such as #silver, #platinum or #palladium from #ElectronicWaste or even #mining residues. And that is not all: as well as e-waste, the technology might be applied to a wider range of environmental cleaning efforts, such as filtering out #HeavyMetals from #PollutedWater sources or industrial effluents, reported Physics World."

Read more:
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/gold-extraction-from-e-waste-sponge


Article in Physics World - Eco-friendly graphene composite recovers gold from e-waste

24 Oct 2024

https://physicsworld.com/a/eco-friendly-graphene-composite-recovers-gold-from-e-waste/

#SolarPunkSunday #NoGoldMining
#EWasteRecycling #MetalsExtraction #Electronics #RareEarthMinerals #Recycling #NewTechnology #ShrimpShells

#ZeroWasteAotearoa - Mine #EWaste for #gold, not beautiful landscapes

February 16, 2026

​"As a fast-track consent is sought for a major gold mine in #CentralOtago and another has already been granted in #Coromandel, #ZeroWaste #Aotearoa is calling upon the government to mine #ElectronicWaste, not beautiful landscapes, for gold and other precious metals.

"E-waste contains a significant concentration of gold, with one metric tonne of electronic waste containing up to 800 times more gold than a tonne of mined ore. While precious metals (including gold, silver, copper) make up approximately 60% of the composition of some e-waste, gold specifically is highly concentrated, with a single tonne of circuit boards containing roughly 39 grams of gold.

"#NewZealand currently generates 99,000 tonnes of e-waste every single year. Approximately 98 percent ends up in landfill or is disposed of illegally, according to the Ministry for the Environment.

" 'At present the voluntary product stewardship scheme means that we have one of the lowest rates of e-waste recovery in the world. We are literally throwing gold away into landfills while proposing to dig it up elsewhere in some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes. It is the height of madness,' says Sue Coutts of Zero Waste Aotearoa.

" 'Like many people across the country, we are gravely concerned about the environmental impact of gold mining. We think that there are much better ways to get these valuable resources – and ensure that they stay in circulation forever, not dumped in landfills.'

" 'The World Gold Council says that only 7% of gold is used in tech but 27% of worldwide gold production is already from recycling. This is more than 4 times what we need for tech – there is no valid reason to dig up any more of our precious #ecosystems.'

" '#ProductStewardship would create a pathway for a new industry: one built on resource recovery of valuable materials and a #CircularEconomy.

"NZ company #MINTInnovation relocated to #Sydney because they could tap into flows of e-waste from extended producer responsibility schemes that collect electronic waste in #Australia .

"They chose not to invest in NZ because there is no regulated e-waste scheme here. That’s $60m in turnover that will be dropping into the Australian economy every year instead of ours.

"E-waste was declared a priority product in June 2020 requiring the establishment of a regulated product stewardship scheme under the #WasteMinimisationAct. Yet six years on, a mandatory scheme is not in place and no further work is being done.

"Electronic waste, or e-waste, includes discarded electronic devices such as smartphones, computers, and televisions. E-waste is a rich source of precious metals and #RareEarth elements, including gold, #silver, #platinum, and #palladium, used in #CircuitBoards and components."

Source:
https://zerowaste.co.nz/media-statement-mine-e-waste-for-gold-not-beautiful-landscapes/

#SolarPunkSunday #NoGoldMining #EWasteRecycling #MetalsExtraction #Electronics

#Mobile #Phone #pmOS #Apps
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Applications_by_category

Terminal
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/GNOME_Console
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Terminal_cheat_sheet#Package_management

Browser
#Firefox — Extensible desktop browser, tweaked for phones in postmarketOS.
https://mozilla.org/firefox/ || mobile-config-firefox, firefox

Encrypted Messaging
Irssi — TUI client. https://irssi.org/ || irssi
https://sr.ht/~delthas/senpai/ || senpai #IRC @liberachat #onion #Palladium

Cinny — Simple, elegant and secure #matrix client https://cinny.in/ || cinny

Chatty — Phosh's messaging app
SMS, XMPP and matrix.
https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/chatty || chatty

#Signal Desktop — Official electron-based desktop client. Can use this to send and receive messages from a linked device. Cannot be used for registration
-> This app doesn't work out of the box well on mobile . . . https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Desktop || signal-desktop

Carburetor — Browse anonymously! A GTK4 client for connecting into tor network! https://framagit.org/tractor/carburetor/ || carburetor
(You could also start #tor from #Gnome Console as a systemd unit)
@torproject

Other
Password Safe — Password manager for Gnome using the KeePass format
https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/PasswordSafe || gnome-passwordsafe

OTPClient — Highly secure and easy to use OTP client written in C/GTK that supports both TOTP and HOTP
https://github.com/paolostivanin/OTPClient || otpclient

some more follow up, @tinker

Moon Shot und Die Happy
19.11.2026 D?sseldorf / Ratinger Hof

The Hu und Skald
22.10.2026 K?ln / Palladium

#Dusseldorf #Koln #MoonShot #Palladium #RatingerHof #TheHu #SteelFeed

Milking The Goatmachine, Majesty, Macbeth (DE), Paragon, Nitrogods, Sacred Steel, Squealer, The Very End, Wizard, Revolution Eve, Ten Weeks Later, Voidripper, [soon] und Sick#Red
21.03.2026 Oberhausen / Helvete

Moon Shot und Die Happy
12.11.2026 Bochum / Rockpalast
19.11.2026 D?sseldorf / Ratinger Hof

Sepultura
23.06.2026 Oberhausen / Turbinenhalle

The Hu und Skald
22.10.2026 K?ln / Palladium

#Bochum #Dusseldorf #Helvete #Koln #MilkingTheGoatmachine #MoonShot #Oberhausen #Palladium #RatingerHof #Rockpalast #Sepultura #TheHu #Turbinenhalle #SteelFeed

Moon Shot und Die Happy
19.11.2026 D?sseldorf / Ratinger Hof

The Hu und Skald
22.10.2026 K?ln / Palladium

#Dusseldorf #Koln #MoonShot #Palladium #RatingerHof #TheHu #SteelFeed