Posted on 09/30/2017 9:41:20 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Scarce metals are found in a wide range of everyday objects around us. They are complicated to extract, difficult to recycle and so rare that several of them have become "conflict minerals" which can promote conflicts and oppression. A survey at Chalmers University of Technology now shows that there are potential technology-based solutions that can replace many of the metals with carbon nanomaterials, such as graphene.
They can be found in your computer, in your mobile phone, in almost all other electronic equipment and in many of the plastics around you. Society is highly dependent on scarce metals, and this dependence has many disadvantages.
Scarce metals such as tin, silver, tungsten and indium are both rare and difficult to extract since the workable concentrations are very small. This ensures the metals are highly sought after - and their extraction is a breeding ground for conflicts, such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where they fund armed conflicts.
In addition, they are difficult to recycle profitably since they are often present in small quantities in various components such as electronics.
Rickard Arvidsson and Björn Sandén, researchers in environmental systems analysis at Chalmers University of Technology, have now examined an alternative solution: substituting carbon nanomaterials for the scarce metals. These substances - the best known of which is graphene - are strong materials with good conductivity, like scarce metals.
"Now technology development has allowed us to make greater use of the common element carbon," says Sandén. "Today there are many new carbon nanomaterials with similar properties to metals. It's a welcome new track, and it's important to invest in both the recycling and substitution of scarce metals from now on."
The Chalmers researchers have studied the main applications of 14 different metals.....
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Tungsten’s not rare; Fort Knox is filled with it.
Right around the corner...
Rimshot!
:-)
Particles from cement processing plants are so small that once they get into your lungs, they never come out. I wonder if nano particles that might get displaced from those items might pose the same problems.
Someone needs to do the testing and put your question to rest, before nanoparticles are poured out into the public.
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