Electronic waste is piling up fast, with global projections reaching 80 million metric tons by 2030. But thanks to a breakthrough by researchers at Cornell University, that trash could soon become treasure, both for resource recovery and the planet.
A team led by postdoctoral researcher Amin Zadehnazari and Professor Alireza Abbaspourrad has developed an innovative, chemical-free method to extract gold from discarded electronics. Using vinyl-linked covalent organic frameworks (VCOFs), specifically TTF-COF and TPE-COF, the researchers achieved remarkable selectivity: capturing 99.9% of gold from circuit boards while leaving most other metals behind.
The real kicker? These gold-loaded COFs don't just sit on a shelf, they act as catalysts that convert harmful carbon dioxide (CO₂) into valuable organic compounds. This dual-purpose approach not only eliminates the need for toxic gold recovery chemicals like cyanide but also provides a green path to upcycling greenhouse gases.
Gold recovery via these COFs is remarkably efficient: TTF-COF, rich in sulfur, shows an adsorption capacity of 2,440 mg/g and remains stable through 16 reuse cycles. Under mild conditions (50°C and ambient CO₂ pressure), the COFs catalyze terminal alkyne carboxylation, an important organic transformation.
This discovery aligns with Diamond Scientific’s mission to support innovations that reduce environmental impact while promoting sustainable technologies. By transforming e-waste and CO₂ into useful resources, the Cornell team is showing what the future of circular chemistry could look like.
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