There are about 1.4 billion mobile phones produced every year in the world. Many of us have more than one kind of electronic devices, but what constitutes them? Where do these materials come from? The answer to all these questions is the focus of a compelling new project for scientists at the University of Plymouth. The researchers hope that by mixing the entire phone into the dust and then chemically analyzing the results of the dissolution, we should prove why we should be more interested in what is contained in everyday appliances. You also want to show the amount of rare elements contained in each phone and encourage increased recycling after the end of the device's useful life.
Scientists use a blender to grind a smartphone into a powder to reveal the precise ingredients.
There are also rare elements such as enamel, enamel, enamel, and enamel, not to mention a lot of high-value elements such as gold and silver. All of this needs to be mined by mining high-value ore, which puts tremendous pressure on the planet. To perform this experiment, the researchers mixed the mixed cell phone with a strong oxidizing agent, sodium peroxide, at a temperature of nearly 500 °C. They can then perform a detailed analysis of the resulting acid solution to determine its precise chemical content. The results showed that the phone used in the test contained 33 grams of iron, 13 grams of silicon, 7 grams of chromium, and a small amount of other abundant substances. It also contains some key elements, including 900 mg of tungsten, 70 mg of cobalt and molybdenum, and 160 mg of bismuth and 30 mg of strontium, each containing 90 mg of silver and 36 mg of gold.
This means that, in terms of concentration, the gold content of a mobile phone is 100 times or more than the "high grade" of minerals by mineral resource geologists. It also shows that to make a mobile phone, it is necessary to mine 10-15 kg of ore, including 7 kg of high-grade gold, 1 kg of typical copper, 750 g of typical tungsten and 200 g of typical nickel. Dr. Wilkins, a lecturer in economic geology, added that mining can be part of solving world problems. But the environment we are in now is that people become more socially responsible and more interested in the ingredients they buy. To a certain extent, some major mobile phone companies have promised to increase their recycling rates.
The resulting material is then separated and then mixed with a strong oxidizing agent at a temperature of approximately 500 °C. The resulting acid solution can then be analyzed in detail to determine its precise chemical content.
This is a positive sign that the one-off society we have lived for for decades is changing, and we hope that this project will encourage more people to ask questions about their actions. Collaboration with real-world vision is part of the Creative Society initiative, regulated by the University's Sustainable Earth Institute, and supported by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). It aims to reveal novel and innovative ways of communicating research to the public. Real World Vision CEO Anthony Turner added: We are excited to work with Arjan and Colin to find a way to make this research more dynamic and to make it known to the wider public.
