Gold Recovery from E-Waste by Food-Waste Amyloid Aerogels.
Adv Mater
; 36(19): e2310642, 2024 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38262611
ABSTRACT
Demand for gold recovery from e-waste grows steadily due to its pervasive use in the most diverse technical applications. Current methods of gold recovery are resource-intensive, necessitating the development of more efficient extraction materials. This study explores protein amyloid nanofibrils (AF) derived from whey, a dairy industry side-stream, as a novel adsorbent for gold recovery from e-waste. To do so, AF aerogels are prepared and assessed against gold adsorption capacity and selectivity over other metals present in waste electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste). The results demonstrate that AF aerogel has a remarkable gold adsorption capacity (166.7 mg g-1) and selectivity, making it efficient and an adsorbent for gold recovery. Moreover, AF aerogels are efficient templates to convert gold ions into single crystalline flakes due to Au growth along the (111) plane. When used as templates to recover gold from e-waste solutions obtained by dissolving computer motherboards in suitable solvents, the process yields high-purity gold nuggets, constituted by ≈90.8 wt% gold (21-22 carats), with trace amounts of other metals. Life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of the process finally consolidate the potential of protein nanofibril aerogels from food side-streams as an environmentally friendly and economically viable approach for gold recovery from e-waste.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Electronic Waste
/
Gels
/
Gold
/
Amyloid
Language:
En
Journal:
Adv Mater
/
Adv. mater. (Weinheim Print)
/
Advanced materials (Weinheim Print)
Journal subject:
BIOFISICA
/
QUIMICA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Switzerland
Country of publication:
Germany