Scientists find way to make gold from electronic waste
Scientists have developed a highly effective method to recover gold from electronic waste, an advance they say could yield $50 worth of gold for every dollar spent.
Researchers used protein sponges, byproducts from the cheesemaking process, to recover the precious metal from e-waste – a method they claim is sustainable and commercially viable.
In the study, scientists recovered a 450-milligram nugget of 22-carat gold from just 20 old computer motherboards.
The findings suggest the procurement costs for source materials and the energy costs for the entire process are 50 times lower than the value of the gold that can be recovered.
To extract gold, scientists denatured whey proteins in acidic conditions at high temperatures to create a protein slurry that they dried to create a sponge.
