SIM cards and the elements that can be extracted. Credit: James Wilton-Ely
Key Points:
- Re-using gold from electronic waste prevents it from being lost to landfill, and using this reclaimed gold for drug manufacture reduces the need to mine new materials.
- The gold component in electronics was successful as a catalyst in manufacturing pain-relief drugs.
- The teams are working to extend this approach to the recovery and re-use of the palladium content of end-of-life automotive catalytic converters.
Researchers at the University of Cagliari in Italy have given a second life to e-waste—and made drug manufacturing more sustainable in the process.
In a new study, researchers have shown that the gold in SIM cards and circuit boards can be extracted and used as catalysts for reactions in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Electronic waste disposal is a great concern with the growing consumption of electrical products. Damaged electronics are normally dumped at landfills, as separating and extracting components in the recycling process is an expensive affair that needs a lot of energy and an array of harsh chemicals to achieve that purpose. Researchers argue that finding low-energy and affordable ways to reuse metals or metallic components from electronics can prevent environmental degradation through harmful mining processes.
To get there, researchers from the University of Cagliari in Italy developed a process that utilizes green and safe reagents to drain soil and recover base metals such as nickel, copper, silver, and gold. The drawback of this process is that the gold produced cannot be re-used in electronics without using a lot of energy and expenses.
This discovery led Chris Braddock, professor at Imperial College London, to investigate the possibility of using the gold metal extracted from electronics as a catalyst instead. Braddock and team tested the gold in a wide range of chemical reactions used for producing and manufacturing pain relief drugs. They discovered that gold was a better catalyst than most, and its re-suable nature makes it sustainable for more production.
“Research like ours aims to contribute to the cost-effective and sustainable recovery of metals by building a bridge between the supply of precious metals from scrap and industrial demand, bypassing the use of virgin raw materials,” said study author Angela Serpe, professor at the University of Cagliari.
The concept of urban mines can make electronic recycling affordable and effective. Computers contain far more precious metals than mined ore providing diverse metal components. Understanding how to extract them and how they can be re-used, such as gold, can be game changers in manufacturing and industry.
The teams are working to extend their approach to the recovery and re-use of the palladium content of end-of-life automotive catalytic converters. This is particularly pressing as palladium is widely used in catalysis and is even more expensive than gold.