materialsscienceandengineering:Recycling more precious metals from nuclear and electronic waste us
materialsscienceandengineering: Recycling more precious metals from nuclear and electronic waste using the Picasso pigment, Prussian blueA big problem with the disposal of nuclear and electronic wastes is that the process wastes precious metals such as gold and platinum-group metals, which are key metals in computer chips. Researchers form Nagoya University in collaboration with those from the Tokyo Institute of Technology have discovered that a solution to this pressing environmental and technological problem may lie in a pigment named Prussian blue. Using their technique, gold could be extracted from electronic waste, such as smart phones, in amounts 10 to 80 times greater than can be obtained from natural ores. In the world of art, Prussian blue was originally used as a dye in paint and ink and has been used by such painters as Picasso, Van Gogh, and Hokusai for its dark blue color. However, in the world of chemistry, this pigment has another interesting property. Its nanometer-sized spaces (called nanospaces) have a jungle-gym-shaped lattice, which previous experiments found could uptake platinum-group metals. It was not clear, however, how the uptake of these multi-valent metals worked. Read more. -- source link