You might not know every platinum-group metal by name, but they're in use all around you. This group of metals — which includes platinum and five other related elements — is used in everything from catalytic converters to cellphones, jewelry, electrochemical manufacturing, cancer research, and more. PGMs are also particularly important for renewable energy, as these metals power technology such as hydrogen fuel cells and some lithium-ion batteries.
Despite the multifaceted utility of these metals, however, there are a number of environmental and health concerns related to their widespread use.
The power consumed during PGM mining is one of the key issues, as are the health impacts of accumulated platinum-group elements in living creatures. A study in the journal Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology found that PGE exposure has been linked to "asthma, miscarriage, nausea, hair loss, skin diseases, and, in humans, other serious health problems." Additionally, the smelting of PGMs has been linked to persistent levels of toxic sulphur dioxide, which has been linked to other serious health risks.
Fortunately, researchers have found a way to recycle PGMs more effectively, reducing the need for mining while simultaneously preventing the accumulation of more PGEs in the environment.
The research, which was published in the journal Sustainable Resource Management, looked at a dual recycling process involving both pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes. The former uses high temperatures to extract and refine metal components, while the latter uses water-based solutions.
In this case, scientists used sodium carbonate to recover leached metals. In this process, it reacts with the collected metals to cause the formation of solid metal precipitates, allowing the researchers to filter them out of the solution. Their method was highly successful, achieving what the study described as "an exceptionally high rate of recovery (≥99%) from the selective collector-metal leachate."
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The study's innovative method also reduced toxic environmental pollution and waste typically generated by PGM recycling processes.
"These quantifiable improvements in recovery efficiency and environmental performance underscore the potential of this process as a sustainable and economically competitive strategy for industrial-scale PGM recycling," the researchers explained.
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