Scientists at ETH Zurich, headed by Professor Raffaele Mezzenga, have created a special material from whey protein that can extract gold from discarded electronics. In tests, they successfully recovered a small amount – about 450 milligrams of 22-karat gold – from the parts of 20 old computer motherboards. This research, published in Advanced Materials in 2024, is particularly relevant because global electronic waste reached approximately 61.3 million tons in 2023.
Key Takeaways
- ETH Zurich recovered a 450 mg 22-carat gold nugget from 20 motherboards in 2024.
- Raffaele Mezzenga’s whey aerogel could lower e-waste recycling costs by up to 50x.
- With 61.3M tons of e-waste in 2023, Advanced Materials spotlights scalable recovery.
That old phone or laptop you’ve been meaning to recycle actually contains more precious metals than many types of gold ore. Recently, in March 2024, researchers at ETH Zurich, led by Professor Raffaele Mezzenga, developed a way to extract gold from discarded electronics. They used a special sponge made from a byproduct of cheesemaking – a light, porous material called aerogel – to pull gold ions from dissolved electronic components. In a test using parts from 20 old computer motherboards, they were able to recover a 450 milligram nugget of 22-carat gold, and published their findings in the journal Advanced Materials. This is important because the amount of electronic waste is rapidly increasing – reaching about 61.3 million tons globally in 2023.
Turning food waste into a materials breakthrough
You might be wondering what cheese waste has to do with old laptops. Researchers at ETH Zurich recently discovered a surprising connection: they can use leftover proteins from whey to extract gold from discarded electronics. It’s a unique recycling method that sounds like a simple kitchen experiment, but addresses the growing problem of electronic waste.
The team was led by Professor Raffaele Mezzenga in ETH Zurich’s Department of Health Sciences and Technology, with senior scientist Mohammad Peydayesh among the study’s authors. ETH Zurich laid out the approach in its March 2024 news release, after the paper appeared in the journal Advanced Materials in 2024.
A sponge that prefers gold
As a crypto investor, I’m always looking for innovative tech, and this is wild! Scientists have figured out a way to pull gold out of a mix of metals using a special ‘sponge’ made from whey protein – you know, the stuff left over from making cheese. They basically break down the proteins with heat and acid, turning them into tiny fibers, then dry it into something super porous. This material acts like a magnet for gold ions, selectively grabbing them from the solution. It’s a really cool application of material science, and I’m watching to see if this could impact gold extraction or even recycling in the future.
In lab testing, the aerogel showed a gold adsorption capacity of 166.7 milligrams of gold per gram of aerogel, per an ADS abstract of the work. One industry report also described the method as capturing 93% of gold from solution, with the loaded sponge reaching about 20% of its own weight in gold.
From 20 motherboards to a small nugget
Researchers at ETH Zurich showed how to recover valuable metals by taking apart 20 old computer motherboards. They used acid to dissolve the metals into ions, then used a sponge made from whey protein to capture them from the solution.
They successfully recovered a small amount of gold – a 450-milligram piece of 22-carat gold – from the electronic boards. While it’s a tiny amount, it’s significant because it demonstrates the ability to effectively separate gold from a complex and often dirty mixture, which is something recyclers and scientists are closely monitoring.
Why this matters for the US e-waste mountain
The idea of recovering gold from electronic waste rests on the fact that it’s much more concentrated there than in traditional gold mines. In fact, reports show e-waste can contain up to 100 times more gold per ton, leading some to call it a true “urban mine.”
Scale is the other pressure: global e-waste generation was estimated at 61.3 million tons in 2023, a figure cited in coverage of the work by Anthropocene Magazine. Mezzenga framed the inputs plainly, saying, “our approach uses food by-products, so the starting raw materials are extremely inexpensive and sustainable.” His calculations also suggested procurement and energy costs were 50 times lower than the value of the recovered gold, and the process avoids cyanide and mercury.
2026-07-24 07:58