When heated slightly, it dissolves silver from old circuit boards, wires or keyboard connectors.
Less than 20 per cent of silver used in devices gets recycled. REPRESENTATION PIC/GETTY IMAGES
Scientists from the University of Helsinki and the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland have found silver from electronic waste can be recovered using common kitchen ingredients like vegetable oil and hydrogen peroxide.
This sustainable, scalable method published in the Chemical Engineering Journal could change how we mine precious metals from our growing piles of electronic junk. Fatty acids found in oils like sunflower or olive oil are mixed with hydrogen peroxide. When heated slightly, it dissolves silver from old circuit boards, wires or keyboard connectors.
Using ethyl acetate, a far less toxic alternative to industrial solvents, the silver was then recovered in a solid form. Unlike traditional methods, this technique avoids toxic runoff and air pollution. Silver powers several daily use devices such as phones, solar panels, electric vehicles and even medical tech. However, less than 20 per cent of it gets recycled.
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