July 2023 Metallurgy Blog
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July 15, 2023
Audi looks to Create a Circular Economy for Important Metals
Audi looks to Create a Circular Economy for Important Metals
The Audi Environmental Foundation recently partnered with the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology to find new methods for recovering valuable metals from waste. Metals of interest include gallium, indium, and tin, all of which are essential in modern technology such as semiconductors, fiber optics, and photovoltaics. There is a plan to use a selective extraction process that will recover the materials from incinerated waste. Usually the materials are lost when they are disposed of together with other household trash. Various common electronic devices are made up of these metals including USB drives, smartphones, flashlights, chargers and cables, and other devices. The novel process proposed by the Audi Environmental Foundation aims to keep these essential metals in the cycle, however, there are challenges that must be tackled first. Currently, a doctoral chemistry student at the University of Freiberg is developing a selective extraction method in the lab. The key here would be to find molecules that bind to the specific metal ions, so essentially the researchers need a different ligand to extract each type of metal from the waste. Learn more here.
July 31, 2023
Scientists Discover Intrinsic Self Repairing Abilities in Metals
Scientists Discover Intrinsic Self Repairing Abilities in Metals
Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University accidentally discovered a phenomenon that allows metals to repair themselves without any intervention. The original purpose of their experiments was to test the creation of microscopic stress cracks in metals. The researchers wanted to gauge how the microscopic cracks contributed to material failure. To test this they stretched metal samples in a vacuum at a rate of 200 times per second and then they analyzed the samples for stress factures using an electron microscope. It was then that they saw a 40 nanometer-thick platinum sample begin to repair itself. The metal sample was not altered or manipulated in anyway, and in fact it was sitting in isolation when scientists observed it. Since there was no heat or mechanical force applied to the metal the scientists believe that this self-repairing ability is an intrinsic characteristic of metals, at least this is the case for fatigue cracks at the nanoscale. while the implications of this discovery remain unclear, now that they confirmed their findings the scientists think it will be important to look for ways in which this new discovery can be harnessed to create better technologies. Learn more here.
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