Thiosulfate leaching of gold from waste mobile phones

Ha V.H., Lee J.-C., Jeong J., Hai H.T., Jha M.K.

Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Technology (HUT), 1 - Dai Co Viet, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Mineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92, Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, South Korea; Metal Extraction and Forming Division, National Metallurgical Laboratory CSIR, Jamshedpur, India Abstract: The present communication deals with the leaching of gold from the printed circuit boards (PCBs) of waste mobile phones using an effective and less hazardous system, i.e., a copper-ammonia-thiosulfate solution, as an alternative to the conventional and toxic cyanide leaching of gold. The influence of thiosulfate, ammonia and copper sulfate concentrations on the leaching of gold from PCBs of waste mobile phones was investigated. Gold extraction was found to be enhanced with solutions containing 15-20. mM cupric, 0.1-0.14. M thiosulfate, and 0.2-0.3. M ammonia. Similar trends were obtained for the leaching of gold from two different types of scraps and PCBs of waste mobile phones. From the scrap samples, 98% of the gold was leached out using a solution containing 20. mM copper, 0.12. M thiosulfate and 0.2. M ammonia. Similarly, the leaching of gold from the PCBs samples was also found to be good, but it was lower than that of scrap samples in similar experimental conditions. In this case, only 90% of the gold was leached, even with a contact time of 10. h. The obtained data will be useful for the development of processes for the recycling of gold from waste mobile phones. 2010 Elsevier B.V. Author Keywords: Gold; Mobile phone; PCBs; Recycling; Thiosulfate leaching Index Keywords: Contact time; Copper sulfate; Cyanide leaching; Experimental conditions; Gold extraction; Hazardous systems; Thiosulfate leaching; Thiosulfate solution; Waste mobile phone; Ammonia; Copper; Cyanides; Gold; Leaching; Mobile devices; Mobile phones; Mobile telecommunication systems; Printed circuit manufacture; Recycling; Scrap metal reprocessing; Telephone; Telephone sets; Printed circuit boards; ammonia; copper sulfate; gold; thiosulfate; ammonia; concentration (composition); copper; cyanide; experimental study; gold; leaching; PCB; recycling; thiosulfate; toxicity; waste; article; bioleaching; controlled study; extraction; intermethod comparison; metal recovery; mobile phone; recycling; trend study; waste component removal; waste disposal; Cellular Phone; Copper; Gold; Indicators and Reagents; Industrial Waste; Kinetics; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; Solubility; Solutions; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Thiosulfates Year: 2010 Source title: Journal of Hazardous Materials Volume: 178 Issue: 3-Jan Page : 1115-1119 Cited by: 1 Link: Scorpus Link

Chemicals/CAS: ammonia, 14798-03-9, 51847-23-5, 7664-41-7; copper sulfate, 7758-98-7, 7758-99-8; gold, 7440-57-5; thiosulfate, 14383-50-7; Copper, 7440-50-8; Gold, 7440-57-5; Indicators and Reagents; Industrial Waste; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; Solutions; Thiosulfates; ammonium thiosulfate, 7783-18-8 Correspondence Address: Lee, J.-C.; Mineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92, Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, South Korea; email: jclee@kigam.re.kr ISSN: 3043894 CODEN: JHMAD DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.01.099 PubMed ID: 20149533 Language of Original Document: English Abbreviated Source Title: Journal of Hazardous Materials Document Type: Article Source: Scopus Authors with affiliations:
1. Ha, V.H., Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Technology (HUT), 1 - Dai Co Viet, Hanoi, Viet Nam 2. Lee, J.-C., Mineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92, Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, South Korea 3. Jeong, J., Mineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 92, Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, South Korea 4. Hai, H.T., Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Technology (HUT), 1 - Dai Co Viet, Hanoi, Viet Nam 5. Jha, M.K., Metal Extraction and Forming Division, National Metallurgical Laboratory CSIR, Jamshedpur, India

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