Description
Andre Geim’s work appears twice in this issue. He has been working with researchers in China and developed a straightforward method of recovering metallic gold from e-waste. This starts with an e-waste liquid stream where the precious metals have been dissolved in acid. Reduced graphene oxide powder (rGO) is mixed with this waste stream. rGO is composed of nanoplates with oxygen containing groups around the edges and a graphene surface in the middle. The groups round the edge help the nanoplate mix with the water in the waste and the graphene surface attracts and reduces the gold ions in solution to solid gold metal. It is surprisingly straightforward. The process is also extremely efficient, recovering nearly 100% of the gold even when vanishingly small amounts of gold is present.
Andre was also interviewed by Forbes magazine this month. He was asked how he manages to be so innovative when others are less so. He replied that having a wide range of interests was a key part of his success:
“Too many people move from scientific cradle to scientific coffin without deviation”
…and went on to say:
“You have to enrich yourself, to improve your chances to find something new and interesting that other people didn’t find before”
Not only a recipe for success in science but a good philosophy for making our own luck for the rest of us too.
Elsewhere in this issue, articles cover topics such as the renewed investor interest in graphene companies. Over £11million has been invested in graphene companies this month.
Researchers have turned graphene into diamond, and others have been discovering more about the electrical properties of twisted layer graphene.
In Malaysia, the traditional industry of natural rubber harvesting is exploring creating high altitude balloons made with graphene enhanced rubber to launch satellites into low earth orbit. Quite a leap forward.
Read on and enrich yourselves…
Adrian Nixon
1st September 2022
