Synthesis of Substituted ATF Ligands and Their Evaluation for Metal Dissolution and Recovery from Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment
Additional Funding Sources
The project described was supported by a student grant from the UI Office of Undergraduate Research.
Abstract
The dissolution and recovery of metals from waste electronic and electric equipment is important because the demand of precious metals in industrialization has increased and the quantity of natural raw metals has decreased therefore increasing the costs. Extraction of these metals is also important because it helps with environmental legislation thus making it easier to dispose WEEE. This is considered the secondary source of metals. Precious metals are used in a wide range of electronic appliances like, phones, modems, and computers. The types of precious metals that are usually found in waste electronic and electric equipment are gold, copper, silver, and palladium. In this study, there will be the synthesis of substituted ATF ligands and evaluation for metal dissolution of waste electronic and electrical equipment. The process utilizes a mild redox-active ligand series (azothioformamides or ATF) capable of dissolving metals and metal salts into ligand-metal coordinative complexes. These recovered complexes will undergo electrochemical processing to recover high purity metals and fresh ligand, providing a fully recyclable system.
The recovery of metals from waste electronic and electric equipment has a positive impact on the environment because it reduces the toxic chemicals released by the WEEE into the atmosphere and reimagines how metals are sourced. The recovered metals can also be used for future industrial processes.
Synthesis of Substituted ATF Ligands and Their Evaluation for Metal Dissolution and Recovery from Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment
The dissolution and recovery of metals from waste electronic and electric equipment is important because the demand of precious metals in industrialization has increased and the quantity of natural raw metals has decreased therefore increasing the costs. Extraction of these metals is also important because it helps with environmental legislation thus making it easier to dispose WEEE. This is considered the secondary source of metals. Precious metals are used in a wide range of electronic appliances like, phones, modems, and computers. The types of precious metals that are usually found in waste electronic and electric equipment are gold, copper, silver, and palladium. In this study, there will be the synthesis of substituted ATF ligands and evaluation for metal dissolution of waste electronic and electrical equipment. The process utilizes a mild redox-active ligand series (azothioformamides or ATF) capable of dissolving metals and metal salts into ligand-metal coordinative complexes. These recovered complexes will undergo electrochemical processing to recover high purity metals and fresh ligand, providing a fully recyclable system.
The recovery of metals from waste electronic and electric equipment has a positive impact on the environment because it reduces the toxic chemicals released by the WEEE into the atmosphere and reimagines how metals are sourced. The recovered metals can also be used for future industrial processes.