Scientists used whey to obtain gold from electronic waste. Circuit boards in electronic devices are also one of the ways to obtain gold. However, obtaining gold from these circuit boards is a very difficult process. Scientists managed to facilitate this process with whey.
Whey solution to extract gold from circuit board
Graphics cards, processors, in short, all circuit boards that carry electrical charge contain gold, at least in small amounts. The reason for this is that gold is the best conductor material in the world. The mined copper mine also contains a small amount of gold.
It is important for companies that convert circuit boards to be able to obtain this gold easily. Again, the process of obtaining gold from electronic waste also contributes to the environment in terms of recycling electronic waste. Scientists found the solution that accelerates this transformation in an unexpected place.
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Whey is of critical importance in terms of nutrition. The proteins in this water are very vital, especially for those on a vegan diet. However, this water, which is very rich in protein, also becomes important in obtaining gold from electronic waste.
A dairy product rich in proteins that can produce amyloid nanofibrils contained in whey. Nanofibrils, with their high surface/volume ratio, modular surface and extremely stable state, can be used as aerogels to obtain recycled gold.
How to obtain gold from circuit board with whey?
By heating whey to 90 degrees and dipping it in an acid bath, scientists were able to produce amyloid nanofibrils. These amyloid nanofibrils were then dispersed in the liquid and the dispersion was frozen. The researchers thus created a lightweight porous airgel.
For this research, scientists disassembled 20 old graphics cards. After this decomposition, researchers cut these circuit boards into small pieces until only the circuit remained. These small pieces were dissolved in aqua regia, which can dissolve even noble metals.
The scientists sieved the resulting solution and allowed it to interact with the airgel for a day. Then, the researchers burned this solution, which adhered to the airgel, at 1000 degrees. What remained was a pile of ashes containing gold. In this way, researchers managed to obtain 403 grams of gold from 20 motherboards.
In this sense, obtaining gold from the circuit board becomes quite easy. Although there are other ways to obtain airgel, none of them are as easy to obtain as whey. Whey appears during cheese making. Accordingly, 10 percent of the milk from which cheese is made is cheese and 90 percent is whey. This new solution will also be a solution to whey waste.
Did you know that gold can be obtained from electronic waste? We are waiting for your comments and opinions about the news.