Recovery of gold and tantalum from electronic waste using underwater laser-assisted processing in external electric fields

The widespread use of advanced electronic devices and the rapid depreciation of these items have led to a significant increase in the production and handling of electronic waste, posing a more pressing and challenging problem. Hence, the recycling and recovery of materials from electronic trash is crucial. This study focuses on the recovery of materials from electronic waste using electric field-assisted laser ablation in liquid. Initial studies are carried out on electrodes that generate electric field strengths of 125 and 1875 V/m, following laser ablation of submerged manganese targets. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray, x-ray diffraction, and micro-Raman spectroscopy are used to characterize these electrodes. The investigation revealed that the electrodes are coated with Mn2O3 produced by ablating submerged manganese targets. This work is then extended to the recovery of nanoparticles on copper electrodes produced from electronic waste (e-waste) as submerged targets—(1) standard-SIM cards and (2) capacitors from discarded motherboards. Characterization of the electrodes validates the deposition of gold and tantalum oxides formed in the electrodes.