91ÅÝܽ

Synopsis

The consumption of electronics has increased dramatically in the past decades and so has the amount of electronic waste (e-waste). The pressure of the electronics industry contributes to the scarcity of certain chemical elements such that their recycling through urban mining is imperative. Beyond dealing with the important and urgent matter of extracting critical, precious and strategic elements from waste materials, it is important to eco-design new forms of electronics where environmentally benign device end-of-life scenarios are foreseen. Along this line, in this seminar, we will present two cases of study revolving around (i) green hydrometallurgy to recycle precious metals from e-waste and (ii) compostable electronics based on the use of organic bio-sourced (extracted from natural sources) materials. The two cases of study will give us the chance to discuss the concept of dirty alloys and a few aspects of the transport physics of disordered natural molecular materials.