![Giftmio [Lifetime] Many GEOs](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSI3MjgiIGhlaWdodD0iOTAiIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCA3MjggOTAiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSIxMDAlIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwMCUiIHN0eWxlPSJmaWxsOiNjZmQ0ZGI7ZmlsbC1vcGFjaXR5OiAwLjE7Ii8+PC9zdmc+)
Recycling facilities collect glass and mercury from thrown away fluorescent bulbs, but discarded lighting could also supply rare-earth metals for reuse. The 17 metals known as rare earths aren’t all widely available and are not easily extracted with existing recycling methods. Now, researchers have found an easier option to collect barely magnetic particles that contain rare-earth metals from spent fluorescent bulbs. The team describes its proof-of-concept magnetized chromatography method in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
Many modern technologies, resembling electric vehicles and microchips, use rare earths due to their unique magnetic, electrical and optical characteristics. Nevertheless, only a handful of nations have untapped deposits of those metals. Large-scale rare-earth recycling from outdated, broken devices is difficult since the metals are integrated into different components and are present only in small amounts. In discarded fluorescent lighting, mixtures of rare-earth-based phosphors, the substances that contribute to a lightweight’s color, are present in a skinny coating contained in the bulb. So, Laura Kuger, Matthias Franzreb and colleagues desired to develop a low-tech method to simply collect these phosphors by profiting from the weather’ weak magnetic properties.
The researchers used a wire coil to externally apply a magnetic field to a glass chromatography column crammed with stacked disks of stainless-steel mesh. They then prepared an illustration sample to go through the column to see if it could capture the phosphors. First, the researchers obtained three different weakly magnetic rare-earth phosphors from a lamp manufacturer. Next, the team mimicked old fluorescent lamp parts by mixing the phosphor particles in a liquid solution with nonmagnetic silica oxide and strongly magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, representing glass and metal components within the bulbs, respectively. Then, when the liquid was injected and flowed through the chromatography column, the phosphors and iron oxide nanoparticles stuck to the magnetized stainless-steel mesh, while the water and silica particles flowed out the opposite end.
To remove the phosphors from the column, the researchers slowly reduced the strength of the external magnetic field while rinsing the column with liquid. Finally, the strongly magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were released from the column when the magnetic field was turned off. The researchers observed that their method recovered 93% of the rare-earth phosphors from the initial mixture that mimicked lamp components. While more work is required to separate individual rare-earth elements from the phosphors and to scale the strategy for industrial recycling applications, Kuger, Franzreb and colleagues say their approach is a step toward a practical option to turn old light bulbs into recent technologies for a brighter and more sustainable future.
The authors acknowledge funding from the German Research Foundation.
