metalresearcher
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Electronic gadgets contain 43 elements is that true ?
According to press sources electrocic gadgets (smartphones, mp3 players, laptops, etc.) contain a lot of rare earth metals, tantalum and other rare
elements. The press talks about 43 elements which is nearly half of all the 90 available elements in nature.
So costs of rare earths are soaring. I can imagine with the very short economic life cycle of a smartphone (less than 2 years).
Is that really true that a smartphone contains so many elements ?
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element
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psychokinetic
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I don't know specifics, but a lot of them are likely in trace amounts incidentally (i.e. not really put in there for a particular purpose, but rather
that they happen to be a part of the material that's used) or are things such as diodes, elemental makeup of the plastics, perhaps also conducting
polymers.
I could see how the numbers would shoot up quickly.
“If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found
the object of his search.
I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.”
-Tesla
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dann2
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A bucket of sea water probably contains all 90. Most of the weight being Hydrogen and Oxygen!
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12AX7
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Can we enumerate them?
Biggest:
Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen: plastics, composites
Chlorine, bromine, fluorine: plastics, additives
Silicon: composites, ICs
Sodium, potassium, calcium: composites (e.g. fiberglass)
Magnesium, aluminum, iron, titanium, chromium, manganese, nickel: metal alloys, composites, cermets, etc.
Zinc, copper, silver, gold, palladium, platinum: components, interconnects, plating
Cobalt, lithium: batteries
Phosphorus, boron, gallium, arsenic, germanium: additives, semiconductor dopants, etc.
Molybdenum, tungsten, krypton, xenon: light bulbs, flash tubes
Tin (and lead, but less often these days): solder
That's 33 already. Let's see if I can find 10 more:
Barium, zirconium, lead: capacitors, piezoelectrics
Indium: displays
Neodymium: magnets
Assorted rare earths: phosphors -- maybe 5 are the most significant? (Y, Eu, Er, etc.)
43 sounds pretty close!
Tim
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not_important
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Indium is also used in some shorter wavelength LEDs, besides its use in transparent condive films for flat displays. The RF part may use GaAs, GaN,
SiGe, InP, and other mixed IV-V semiconductors. Batteries - Li, S, F, O, and various transition metals depending on the chemistry.
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metalresearcher
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@12AX7 Yes, really !
For semiconductor dopants you forgot Al (same group als Ga and In) but is already mentioned in 'metal alloys'.
But silver and gold ? Silver probably in solders but gold ??
You forgot an inportant one: Ta in capacitors !
Tb , Eu, Dy and Er are used in LED and fluorescent phosphors.
@dann2: A bucket of sea water does not contain 90 elements:
According to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundances_of_the_elements_%28d...
no Tc (obviously),Ru,Rh,Pd, Te, Pm (obviously), Os, Ir, Pt, At, Fr, Ac and beyond U.
Only a minority has more than ppm quantities, even common elements such as Fe are very rare.
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psychokinetic
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No Tc? Radiography machines are electronics.... 
“If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found
the object of his search.
I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.”
-Tesla
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not_important
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Technetium is mostly used in compounds for tracer purposes, not in radiography machines. The long lived isotope <sup>99</sup>Tc is a low
energy beta emitter, not too useful in radiography. Short lived <sup>99m</sup>Tc is uses as an tracer for imaging, but it's not in the
machine but generally injected into the patent.
[Edited on 27-10-2010 by not_important]
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psychokinetic
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Oh, my bad. Not likely to be in electronics until we're cyborgs, then.
“If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found
the object of his search.
I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.”
-Tesla
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dann2
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I stand corrected.
Dann2
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12AX7
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Quote: Originally posted by not_important  | | Indium is also used in some shorter wavelength LEDs, besides its use in transparent condive films for flat displays. The RF part may use GaAs, GaN,
SiGe, InP, and other mixed IV-V semiconductors. Batteries - Li, S, F, O, and various transition metals depending on the chemistry.
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Yes, I only listed elements once (except for lead, which appeared parenthetically the first time). Many of them appear all over the place as noted.
Most electronics contain gold, even if a small amount for IC bonding wires, flash plating on contacts, etc. High reliability equipment generally
affords a more profitable amount. And very old equipment can be, well, a mine...
Tim
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Texium
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Thread Moved
19-11-2023 at 16:10 |
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