Researchers in Hong Kong have found a beneficial new use for the electronic waste from

discarded cell phones, computers, and other gadgets. Ground up into a powder, printed circuit
boards from these products could sponge up another type of pollutiontoxic heavy metals in
water (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, DOI: 10.1021/es4001664).
About 20 to 50 million tons of electronic waste is produced worldwide each year, and most of it
is incinerated or dumped into landfills. Environmental scientists worry about the ecological and
human health hazards caused by this e-waste, especially in developing countries that receive the
bulk of the waste. Burning the plastic-metal mix in printed circuit boards releases toxic
compounds such as dioxins and furans. In landfills, the metals on the boards can eventually
contaminate groundwater.
But recycling circuit boards is expensive. Only the metal parts of the boards have reuse value, so
the nonmetallic parts must be separated out from the e-waste, which is a costly process.
To make e-waste recycling more economically viable, Gordon McKay and his colleagues at the
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology began investigating uses for this nonmetallic
fraction, which is made of plastic and aluminosilicates. The team had previously developed
adsorbent materials to remove toxic heavy metals from wastewater effluents produced in the
microelectronics industry. They thought the aluminosilicate material in the circuit boards would
make an effective adsorbent, similar to zeolite materials currently used for this purpose.
To test this idea, McKay and colleagues worked with a powder made by grinding up the
nonmetallic fraction of circuit boards. They heated it and treated it with potassium hydroxide,
which is a common technique used to increase porosity in carbon-based adsorbents. The team
then added the powder to solutions of copper, lead, and zinc.
The researchers found that the metals adsorbed to the treated powder more efficiently than to
three commonly used industrial adsorbents. For example, the powder soaked up about 25%
more copper than an equivalent amount of commercially available ion-exchange resin did.
The ground-up circuit boards also had a higher adsorption capacity for these metals than
several low-cost adsorbents, including soybean hulls and blast furnace slag.
Interestingly, the metals did not adsorb to the untreated powder. The team proposes, based on
inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, that the heating and chemical
treatment opens up the circuit board materials aluminosilicate lattice. This creates a porous
structure that enhances ion exchange with the toxic heavy metals.
Daniel E. Giammar, an environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis, says the
team has found an intriguing use for this e-waste material. Although the boards can become
effective adsorbents, he says the method for making the materials may not be as energy efficient

and cost effective as for other adsorbents, such as granular ferric hydroxide, because of all the
processing steps needed to produce the treated powder.
The researchers are now conducting a pilot study to make a 10-kg batch of the adsorbent, and
they are discussing developing the project on an industrial scale with an electronic waste
recycling company in Hong Kong, McKay says. He thinks the ideal application for the new
adsorbent would be to treat wastewater effluent from electronics production. It would be quite a
nice complete circle, he says.
Chemical & Engineering News
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