For now, let’s use the salt and vinegar method. To get started, add the sea salt into a beaker, pour the vinegar in, and stir until the salt dissolves. Vinegar and salt form a powerful, but non-corrosive stripping solution needed to etch out the tiny gold particles on the computer parts.
Full Answer
How easy is it to extract gold?
The way I extract the gold is relatively straight-forward and pretty easy, but the chemicals used are very dangerous and should not be performed without proper knowledge and equipment. This process is not supposed to be lucrative. It is a great science project. So don't try to make money off of this process. You will end up losing money!!
How much gold can you really get from junk electronics?
lectronics-technology engineer Josehf Lloyd Murchison claims he has extracted up to $1,600 (£980) worth of gold in three months of collecting junk electronics -- and you can too. "Surprisingly, chemical recovery of gold takes almost no skill," he says.
How do you remove gold from a PCB?
Then, you should remove the PCB and scrape off any gold still attached to the PCB (you should be wearing gloves if performing this step by hand) and fully submerge it into a cup of water. Then, add some add some water to the existing solution full of gold (I recommend doubling the amount of solution with water.
Is it possible to mine for gold in electronics?
While removing that gold has heretofore been a highly toxic and inefficient proposition, researchers now think that a new process will make prospecting for gold in electronics heaps more achievable than ever. Gold is often found on printed circuit boards, particularly under keyboards where its durability is an advantage.
Does gold dissolve in vinegar?
The mixture of vinegar (dilute acetic acid) and peroxide will leave gold untouched. The only chemical mixture that dissolves gold is aqua regia, a mixture of concentrated nitric and hydrochloric acids.
What is the easiest way to recover gold from electronics?
How to extract gold from electronicsCollect your scraps. In phones, most of the gold is in the SIM card, the main board and the smaller components on the back of the LCD screen. ... Strip out the boards. Place your circuit boards in a glass vessel. ... Collect the flakes. ... Melt the gold.07-Mar-2014
How do you extract gold with vinegar?
1:075:49Gold Recovery using peracetic acid (White vinegar + Hydrogen peroxide)YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou just mix it in equal parts. But it's not yet parasitic acid. And all we have so far is just aMoreYou just mix it in equal parts. But it's not yet parasitic acid. And all we have so far is just a mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to kickstart reaction you need a catalyst.
How do you extract gold from electronics without chemicals?
To get started, add the sea salt into a beaker, pour the vinegar in, and stir until the salt dissolves. Vinegar and salt form a powerful, but non-corrosive stripping solution needed to etch out the tiny gold particles on the computer parts.13-Jan-2022
What electronics contain the most gold?
Computer CPU's (processors) have the most precious metal value by weight, followed by Memory (RAM) & Circuit Board Fingers / Connectors / Pins, then Circuit Boards (Motherboards), then cables / wires, with hard drives & whole computers being last.
How do you remove gold from motherboard?
StepsGet protective gear.Purchase concentrated nitric acid.Put your circuit boards in a glass container.Pour the concentrated nitric acid into the glass container with the circuit boards.Stir the mixture using a glass rod until the contents become fluid in form.Drain the nitric acid from the mixture.26-Mar-2021
What happens when you mix peroxide and vinegar?
Mixing hydrogen peroxide with vinegar creates peracetic acid, a corrosive acid that can harm the skin, eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. While it's okay to use the two in succession on a surface, don't ever mix hydrogen peroxide and vinegar in the same bottle.06-Mar-2020
Does hydrogen peroxide dissolve gold?
Actually, gold metal dissolves in the presence of both a strong oxidant and a halide anion under highly acidic solutions. Moreover, a hot solution of hydrochloric acid mixed with a hydrogen peroxide (H^sub 2^O^sub 2^) also dissolves gold according to the chemical reaction (see Reaction 5).18-Aug-2005
What salt does to gold?
It's not just chlorine that can damage your gold jewellery and diamonds; saltwater can damage them too. Salt causes erosion of soldered gold, silver or platinum elements. As a result, the precious metal may weaken meaning your jewellery could potentially break. The diamonds can also get blemished by salt.01-Dec-2021
Will bleach dissolve gold?
Bleach is the chemical compound sodium hypochlorite. When combined with hydrochloric acid, the mixture produces chlorine that dissolves gold from gold ore. This was the first commercial method used for gold extraction.24-Apr-2017
How do you extract gold from old phones?
0:564:16idea how to make pure gold from old cell phone mobile ... - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipPrice he has separated various parts of the phone and began to extract gold with the help ofMorePrice he has separated various parts of the phone and began to extract gold with the help of sulfuric acid and pour off the liquid. He has made a mixture of nitric acid and water in a 101 ratio.
How much gold is in a cell phone?
A computer contains about 0.2 grams of gold, valued at about $12. Each laptop has 0.006 grams of gold, and you'd need 7,500 such devices to get a kilo of gold. Then, a cellphone contains about 0.034 grams of gold, worth about $1.83.
Step 1: Prepare the computer parts
The best parts to use in this experiment are printed circuit boards, motherboards, central processing units, random access memory chips, drives, and other internal modems.
Step 2: Clean and dry the parts
Clean the computer parts under a tap of running water to remove any dust or residual plastic—air-dry the components before beginning the process of extracting gold.
Step 3: Prepare the stripping solution
In this experiment, we will use a mixture of sea salt, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide. Others elsewhere might recommend using toilet bowl cleaner and hydrogen peroxide to do the same job.
Step 4: Connect the apparatus to an air pump
Take another glass beaker and insert a tube connected to an air pump. This setup will help to circulate oxygen and remove unwanted gas from the stripping solution.
Step 5: Mix the stripping solution with the e-waste
After placing the e-waste into the beaker, add the stripping solution of vinegar and salt into the beaker. Do this slowly, ensuring that all the computer parts are fully submerged in the solution.
Step 6: Keep an eye on the apparatus
After 24 hours, check on your experiment and stir the solution. You might notice that the solution has turned light blue, but more importantly, you will start to see tiny gold foils floating around.
Step 7: Strain out the gold foil
It is now time to separate the gold foil from the solution. If you soak the electronic parts for a couple of days, you will notice that the salt, vinegar, and peroxide solution gets thicker. Don’t worry; you will still be able to fish out the tiny strips of gold extracted from the computer parts.
What is the best way to clean a toilet bowl?
1) Toilet Bowl Cleaner (must contain hydrochloric acid). If you have lab grade hydrochloric acid, by all means use it. Can be found at Home Depot, most home improvement stores and plumbing supply stores. HAZARDOUS; do not ingest or get in eyes and mucous membranes. 2) Hydrogen Peroxide.
How to package etching solution?
In this step, package your etching solution in a bottle with a very tight cap (if using chemical concentrations higher than what I've used, package in glass bottle. Otherwise, plastic is fine.). Label the bottle and make sure it clearly says HAZARDOUS, DO NOT DRINK OR OPEN in huge letters all over the bottle. Tape the cap with masking tape so people, if they get ahold of it, don't open it. Also, keep away from anyone else, especially young children, or any other bottles of the same kind.
Why is etching solution called etching solution?
This solution is called an etching solution because the solution made above dissolves the nickel under the gold. as a result, the gold foils are detached from the nickel because it has been dissolved.
How long does it take for nickel to come off a PCB?
In this step, all you have to do is wait for the gold foils to come off the PCB. Once you see all the gold foils floating around, wait one more day to make sure all nickel is actually off the gold foils. This process takes a few days at most. Ask Question.
What are the safety first items to wear for a scuba diver?
Safety first: 1) Goggles. 2) Rubber Gloves. 3) Gas Mask/Respirator (not needed if performing outside) 4) A Well Ventilated Area (outside or in a room with a fume hood) Now for the apparatus: 1) One Glass Beaker (thick plastic cups should suffice, but glass is better). Styrofoam and paper will not work.
How to get gold out of coffee filter?
In this step, turn your coffee filter inside out over a cup and add a little water to the top. This pushes the gold foils off the filter and into the cup. Then, wait for the gold foils to settle to the bottom and get as much water out. After that, you could wait for the water to evaporate out and you are left with just gold.
Can you filter out gold from PCBs?
Also, if the water the stripped PCBs are submerged in has gold foils floating around, pour that into the filter, too . After filtering out all the gold, pour out the excess water into your hazardous waste bottle that will be disposed of properly, and continue to run regular water through the filter to clean the gold.
How long does it take to dissolve gold?
The Canadian researchers' alternative is a solution of acetic acid and an oxidant — a nontoxic technique to dissolve gold, which is stripped from circuits in about 10 seconds, leaving intact copper, nickel, iron, and other metals in printed circuit boards.
How to extract gold from electronic scraps?
There are two standard methods for extracting gold from electronic scraps: burning off the gold using high temperatures, which is energy intensive, expensive, and releases toxic gases. The second way involves leaching chemicals like a cyanide solution, which is also expensive and toxic, plus the remaining waste cannot be recycled.
How to extract gold from scraps?
There are two standard methods for extracting gold from electronic scraps: burning off ...
Is gold hard to dissolve?
Besides the monetary value, the technology weighs in by solving one big problem posed to e-cyclers and other scrap metal recyclers: the fact that gold is traditionally hard to dissolve without rendering other metals unusable.
How to make a circuit board?
Place your circuit boards in a glass vessel. In another container, mix two parts hydrochloric acid and one part weak hydrogen peroxide (a concentration of three per cent). Pour this mixture over the circuit boards so they are completely submerged. Wait for a week, giving the vessel a stir every day with a glass or plastic rod.
How to get gold flakes out of circuit board?
Pour the mixture through a coffee filter and into another glass container. The gold flakes will be left behind. Pour the remaining circuit-board bits into a deep plastic tray filled with water. Save any pieces with remaining gold for re-dipping. Pour the water through the filter to collect any gold dust, and flush the flakes with water.
How much gold has Murchison extracted?
lectronics-technology engineer Josehf Lloyd Murchison claims he has extracted up to $1,600 (£980) worth of gold in three months of collecting junk electronics -- and you can too. "Surprisingly, chemical recovery of gold takes almost no skill," he says.
How to melt gold in a bowl?
Add some borax (available from chemists); this enables the gold to be melted at a temperature lower than 1,064C. When the borax begins to soften, add the gold flakes. Heat until the flakes melt into a gold bead. Now let it cool before chipping the gold out of the re-solidified borax.
Where is the gold on a phone?
In phones, most of the gold is in the SIM card, the main board and the smaller components on the back of the LCD screen. Use a magnet to separate all gold-plated steel parts, as you need a different process to extract it. "Older electronics have more gold in them," says Murchison.
Is peroxide good for hair?
Learn basic first aid before you try this. "Hydrogen peroxide is used to bleach hair and is a good antiseptic," says John Turner, a reader in inorganic physical chemistry at the University of Sussex, "and although hydrochloric acid isn't usually found in the house, the actions are very easy to do.
Be Careful When Picking Hazardous Chemicals
One of the most important aspects to consider when extracting gold from e-waste is safety. This begins with developing a plan for storing and using hazardous chemicals during extraction, but it also includes understanding how these chemicals could affect you or your community if they were spilled or mishandled.
Prepare Materials and Safety Equipment
Once you have assessed the hazards associated with the chemicals and equipment you will be using, it is important to gather all of the necessary supplies and safety gear. This includes items like a face mask, gloves, goggles, and lab coat to protect your skin and clothes from any harmful substances.
Follow Safe Handling Procedures
In addition to wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), other safe handling procedures should be followed when working with hazardous chemicals. These include avoiding contact with eyes and skin, never eating or drinking while working, washing hands thoroughly after use, and properly storing chemicals away from children and pets.
Prepare Electronics for Gold Extraction
After you have carried out the necessary safety measures, it is time to start extracting gold from your e-waste. First, disassemble all of your electronics into individual pieces by following manufacturer instructions (if possible), and sorting them into plastic, metal, and glass waste bins.
Clean Off PCBs
The next step is to clean off any residual plastic, metal, or glass from the PCBs. You can do this by using a solvent like acetone that will dissolve most non-metallic substances. Just be sure to avoid getting the acetone on any of the electronic components themselves or on your skin because it is highly flammable and toxic.
Create The Etching Solution
Now it is time to create the etching solution that will be used to remove the gold from the PCBs. This can be done by dissolving a small amount of cyanide in water (be sure to use protective gear when handling cyanide). The concentration of cyanide in the solution will determine how much gold is removed from the PCBs.
Extract the Gold Foils
With the etching solution prepared, it is time to start extracting the gold foils from the PCBs.
What is the process of removing gold from a printed circuit board?
First, printed circuit boards are dissolved in the acid which turns all of the metal in the board to liquid. Then, an oily solvent made from toluene is added, kicking off a process known as solvent extraction. Toluene is an aromatic hydrocarbon commonly found in paint thinners. The toluene solvent pulls the gold free from the other materials in ...
How much of the world's gold is locked in electronics?
Naturally, such substances are too hard for consumers to retrieve, which might be why, according to the University of Edinburgh (UE), about seven percent of the world's gold supply is currently locked inside of electronics.
Where is gold found?
Gold is often found on printed circuit boards, particularly under keyboards where its durability is an advantage. According to the UE researchers, about 300 tonnes of the metal are used in electronics each year.
Can solvents be reused?
Likewise, the solvent and acid can be reused, cutting down on waste. "The solvent extraction technique is great in that the recycling of reagents and acid are integral to the process," lead researcher Jason Love of UE's School of Chemistry told New Atlas.
Who is Michael Franco?
Michael Franco. Michael Franco has been writing about the serious and silly sides of science and technology for years for publications including Discovery Channel Magazine, Discover Magazine and CNET.