Recovering gold from e-waste

A research team from Cornell University has created a method to recover gold from e-waste and repurpose it as a catalyst for converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic materials. This innovative approach provides a sustainable solution for recycling a portion of the 50 million tons of e-waste produced annually, of which only 20% is currently recycled. The team utilized vinyl-linked covalent organic frameworks (VCOFs) to efficiently extract gold ions and nanoparticles from circuit boards in discarded electronics.