No matter how much you love your electronics, sooner or later, you will have to replace them when they are damaged, or you change your preferences. However, before getting rid of them, have you ever thought of what’s inside? If you have, you should know that it is better to recycle it than throwing away. Electronics contain many that can be used in making new products. It is best to learn these methods through various digital tasks available.
It is estimated that a computer user uses 40 seconds on a digital task before jumping to another. Many precious metals are used in the manufacturing of electronics because they are good conductors of electricity. If you look closely inside your mobile phone or tablet, you will find traces of gold, silver, platinum, or palladium. Some uses of precious metals in electronics include:
Silver
Wherever there are solders, relays, contacts, and switches, silver is found there. Silver has the highest electrical conductivity in the periodic table. This is one of the primary reasons it preferred more than other inexpensive metals. Mobile phone screen parts, sensitive microwave screens, or the switch behind the screen are made of silver. Silver electrodes are used in display panels of plasma TV to bring about precise and high-quality imaginings. Silver works well with lead and enables faster transmission of electricity as well as magnetic energy that powers motors such as magnetic levitation train. Silver is the number one metal of choice not only for its high conductivity but also its cost-effectiveness.
Gold
Gold is known to be malleable and has high corrosion resistance. It has been applied in various electronics such as computers, tablets, flash drives, and cell phones because it is an excellent conductor. Due to its malleability, gold can be applied in any microelectronic, even those that carry the slightest current. Solid-state electronics use low voltage, which is quickly interrupted by corrosion or destroy the contact points. Other electronics where gold is used include:
- Calculators
- GPS units
- Personal digital assistants
- TV sets and computers
- Gold plating used in semiconductors
It is estimated that each year about one million cell phones are produced each year, and about fifty cents worth of gold is used in each one of them.
Platinum
This precious metal is long used in high voltage and corrosive conditions. It has been a component of thermocouples for a long time and contacts permanent and delicate resistance wires.
Palladium
It is mainly found in computer chips and circuits, even though it is found in almost all electronic gadgets. It has also been applied in thermocouples, circuit board frames as well as contacts. It has also been used in electroplating. It is preferred to gold since it has less weight but the same thickness as gold in electroplating. Other metals found in electronic devices are:
- Aluminum and Copper – computer chips, Printed circuit boards, CPU hear sinks
- Nickel, Tin and titanium – components of the circuit board
- Neodymium and cobalt – hard drives
During extraction, impurities are removed through a heat treatment technique called normalizing. In this technique, a part is held under temperatures of about 700 degrees Fahrenheit to harden+, improve ductility and remove carbon as impurities. The air is then cooled to increase the ferric grains, which have an affinity for carbon, to maintain consistency. The exact amount of heat applied for treatment varies according to the amount of carbon in the metal.
It is estimated that about 0.7% of Americans would take their precious metals jewelry to a pawnshop whenever they need quick cash. With this in mind, can you imagine having a broken or unused electronic in your apartment? How much gold, silver, or platinum would you have? Recycling these metals not only preserves them for future use but also helps in environmental preservation. With advanced technology in this age, you can extract several precious metals from e-wastes from unused and worn-out electronics.
