The progress of the technology is directly related to the growth of production and consumption of electrical/electronics equipment, especially of personal computers. This type of equipment has a relatively short average lifetime, 2-3 years. The amount of defective or obsolete equipment has been increasing substantially; consequently its disposition and/or recycling should be studied. In this work, printed circuit boards, which are used in personal computers, were studied in order to recover the metals in the circuit boards through mechanical processing, such as crushing, screening, as well as magnetic and electrostatic separation. The results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of using these processes to separate metal fractions from polymers and ceramics, and that it is possible to obtain a fraction concentrated in metals containing more than 50% on average of copper, 24% of tin and 8% of lead.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2004.09.009 | DOI Listing |
Front Bioeng Biotechnol
January 2025
Department of Neurological Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common complication of diabetes. Proactive treatment options remain limited, which is exacerbated by a lack of sensitive and convenient diagnostics, especially early in disease progression or specifically to assess small fiber neuropathy (SFN), the loss of distal small diameter axons that innervate tissues and organs.
Methods: We designed, fabricated, tested, and validated a first-of-its-kind medical diagnostic device for the functional assessment of transdermal small fiber nerve activity.
Microsyst Nanoeng
January 2025
Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
In recent decades, electrokinetic handling of microparticles and biological cells found many applications ranging from biomedical diagnostics to microscale assembly. The integration of electrokinetic handling such as dielectrophoresis (DEP) greatly benefits microfluidic point-of-care systems as many modern assays require cell handling. Compared to traditional pump-driven microfluidics, typically used for DEP applications, centrifugal CD microfluidics provides the ability to consolidate various liquid handling tasks in self-contained discs under the control of a single motor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Manage
January 2025
Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada. Electronic address:
Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) are a significant component of electronic waste (e-waste) and are among the fastest-generating waste flows. The potentially negative impacts caused by e-waste on the environment and human health pose an increasingly apparent threat to people's everyday lives and well-being. The nonmetallic fraction (predominantly carbon) of WPCBs is characterized by heavy weight, low resource value, and complex composition, and these characteristics significantly restrict the recycling of the WPCBs to achieve a circular economy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicromachines (Basel)
December 2024
Taiwan Instrument Research Institute, National Applied Research Laboratories, Hsinchu 300092, Taiwan.
The development of bionic organ-on-a-chip technology relies heavily on advancements in in situ sensors and biochip packaging. By integrating precise biological and fluid condition sensing with microfluidics and electronic components, long-term dynamic closed-loop culture systems can be achieved. This study aims to develop biocompatible heterogeneous packaging and laser surface modification techniques to enable the encapsulation of electronic components while minimizing their impact on fluid dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmall Methods
January 2025
Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Institute of Energy Technologies, IET-4, Electrochemical Process Engineering, 52425, Juelich, Germany.
Understanding the sheet resistance of porous electrodes is essential for improving the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers and related technologies. Despite its importance, existing methods often fail to provide reliable and comprehensive data, especially for porous materials with complex morphologies and non-uniform thicknesses. This study introduces a robust and straightforward method for determining the sheet resistance of porous electrodes using a novel probe concept based on industrial printed circuit board (PCB) technology.
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