Precious metal recovery from nanowaste for sustainable nanotechnology: Current challenges and life cycle considerations

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1 Precious metal recovery from nanowaste for sustainable nanotechnology: Current challenges and life cycle considerations Dr. Peter Vikesland Dr. Sean McGinnis Paramjeet Pati SUN-SNO-GUIDENANO Conference 2015

2 Synthetic Chemicals sodium borohydride hydrazine Green Chemicals cinnamon coriander leaves grape pomace cypress leaves s o y b e a n

3 Cumulative Energy Demand (MJ) 1.0 Error bars represent 95% confidence interval borohydride Uncertainty results from gold salt model and energy use citrate hydrazine soybean seed sugarbeet pulp

4 6 Cumulative Energy Demand (MJ) Strong reducing agents (100% yield assumed) Reported yields 100% yield (assumed) 75% yield (assumed) 50% yield (assumed) From a life cycle perspective, gold NP synthesis using bio-based ( green ) reducing agents can have substantial environmental impacts. borohydride citrate grape pomace hydrazine cypress leaf extract C. camphora vitamin B cinnamon ginseng soybean seed mushroom C.album extract D-glucose sugarbeet pulp soybean seed extract coriander Life Cycle Assessment of Green Nanoparticle Synthesis Methods, Environmental Engineering Science (2014). Paramjeet Pati, Sean McGinnis and Peter J. Vikesland.

5 If gold is the key driver of life cycle impacts, can we reduce impacts by recovering/recycling gold? 1 mg Gold NPs The embodied energy of gold drives most of the life cycle impacts of gold nanoparticle synthesis. Gold Salt Sodium Citrate Deionized Water Tap Water Cleaning Solvent Stirring Heating Gold Chlorine Citric Acid Sodium Carbonate HCl HNO 3 Electrical Energy (Red flow lines show the energy associated with each input. Thicker lines imply higher energy inputs.)

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7 Background Research Gap Method Life Cycle Assessment Results Conclusions Recovering gold from nanowaste using α-cyclodextrin AuBr 4 - K(OH 2 ) 6 + Hydrogen bonding AuBr 4 -

8 Selective isolation of gold facilitated by second-sphere coordination with α-cyclodextrin. Nature Communications, Liu et al. (2013)

9 Gold nanowaste Precipitation Schematic of gold recycling experiments Precipitation of gold using Na 2 S 2 O 5 Dissolution in HBr/HNO 3 Selective recovery of gold using α-cyclodextrin Sonication (Resuspension) Filtration HCl/HNO 3 Reduction HAuCl 4 solution Gold nanoparticles

10 Powder XRD

11 Absorbance Background Research Gap Method Life Cycle Assessment Results Conclusions 2 UV-vis 1,5 1 0,5 HAuCl 4 solution Wavelength (nm) Stock_HAuCl4 Recycled_HAuCl4

12 Calculated d-spacing (Å) 1.25, d-spacing for gold (Å) 1.23, Gold nanoparticles Diffraction

13 Can we recover gold from nanowaste? Yes, we can. (But should we?)

14 Gold HAuCl 4 HNO 3 Aqua regia Other chemicals 1 mg AuNP HCl Citrate DI water Water Electricity Synthesis Cleaning water Cooling water Stirring Heating

15 Precipitation Dissolution in HBr/HNO 3 Gold nanowaste Selective recovery of gold using α-cyclodextrin Filtration Precipitation of gold using Na 2 S 2 O 5 Sonication (Resuspension) HCl/HNO 3 Reduction HAuCl 4 solution Gold nanoparticles

16 HBr HNO 3 Dissolution in HBr/HNO 3 Recycle 1 mg AuNP α-cd Precipitate NaCl Gold-CD complex Precipitate & resuspend the complex HAuCl 4 from recovered gold Recover gold precipitate HCl HNO 3 Electricity To waste treatment NaHSO 5 Heating

17 Synthesis Recycling

18 Synthesis Recycling Actual LCA model for 90% recycle scenario

19 Note: 10% recycle means: 10% of the gold nanowaste is recovered and reused for gold nanoparticle synthesis. The rest 90% gold is not recovered, and goes into waste disposal. 10% recycle 50% recycle 90% recycle Dispose all gold as waste

20 Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals 10% recycle 50% recycle 90% recycle Dispose all gold as waste

21 Hmm.. overlapping error bars means the difference isn t statistically significant, right? Makes no difference whether we recycle or not WRONG! You have correlated uncertainties!

22 Correlated uncertainties in LCA: An example Comparing 1 kg of product A vs. 1 kg of Product B: Product A Product B Aluminium 1 kg 0.8 kg Cast iron 1 kg 0.8 kg Polystyrene 1 kg 0.8 kg (Product B uses 20% less inputs compared to Product A. There are no extra, hidden inputs in products A and B) Q: Which of the two has a lower environmental impact? a) Product A b) Product B c) It depends d) Is this a trick question?

23 Q: Which of the two has a lower environmental impact? a) Product A b) Product B c) It depends d) Is this a trick question? The key here: correlated uncertainties. All three inputs (aluminium, cast iron and polystyrene) have uncertainties that are common to both Product A and Product B.

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25 Metal depletion

26 Metal depletion Freshwater ecotoxicity Climate change

27 Marine ecotoxicity Freshwater ecotoxicity Terrestrial ecotoxicity Marine eutrophication Fossil depletion Metal depletion Water depletion Natural land transformation Urban land occupation Agricultural land occupation Ionizing radiation Particulate matter formation Photochemical oxidant formation Human toxicity Freshwater eutrophication Terrestrial acidification Ozone depletion Climate change

28 Metal depletion 10% recycle 50% recycle 90% recycle Dispose all gold as waste

29 Metal depletion

30 Fossil depletion Water depletion Natural land transformation Agricultural land occupation Ionizing radiation Terrestrial ecotoxicity Particulate matter formation Photochemical oxidant formation Human toxicity Terrestrial acidification Ozone depletion Climate change Metal depletion Urban land occupation Marine ecotoxicity Freshwater ecotoxicity Marine eutrophication Freshwater eutrophication

31 Fossil depletion Water depletion Agricultural land occupation Ionizing radiation Terrestrial ecotoxicity Particulate matter formation Terrestrial acidification Ozone depletion Climate change Human toxicity Metal depletion Natural land transformation Urban land occupation Marine ecotoxicity Freshwater ecotoxicity Photochemical oxidant formation Marine eutrophication Freshwater eutrophication

32 Fossil depletion Water depletion Agricultural land occupation Ionizing radiation Ozone depletion Climate change Terrestrial ecotoxicity Human toxicity Metal depletion Natural land transformation Urban land occupation Marine ecotoxicity Freshwater ecotoxicity Particulate matter formation Photochemical oxidant formation Marine eutrophication Freshwater eutrophication Terrestrial acidification

33 Synthesis Recycling High impacts in climate change and fossil fuel depletion are driven by mainly the boiling step in the recovery process. 90% recycle scenario

34 Fossil depletion Water depletion Agricultural land occupation Ionizing radiation Ozone depletion Climate change Terrestrial ecotoxicity Human toxicity Metal depletion Natural land transformation Urban land occupation Marine ecotoxicity Freshwater ecotoxicity Particulate matter formation Photochemical oxidant formation Marine eutrophication Freshwater eutrophication Terrestrial acidification

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36 Conclusion: Gold recovery from nanowaste is feasible Even at low yields, recovery beats regular gold nanowaste disposal Challenges: Reducing the energy footprint of the recovery step. Refining the models to account for different waste disposal and recovery scenarios (e.g., recovery but no reuse).

37 Acknowledgments Dr. Sean McGinnis Director, Green Engineering Program, Virginia Tech Leejoo Wi Undergraduate researcher (Vikesland group) Virginia Tech Centre for Sustainable Nanotechnology (VTSuN) Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS)

38 Spam slides Here be dragons

39 Synthesis Recycling HAuCl Gold 1: Gold obtained from mining 2: Gold from recycling 90% recycle

40 Synthesis Recycling 2 1 1: Gold obtained from mining 2: Gold from recycling 50% recycle

41 Synthesis Recycling 2 1 1: Gold obtained from mining 2: Gold from recycling 10% recycle

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45 Precipitation Dissolution in HBr/HNO 3 Gold nanowaste Selective recovery of gold using α-cyclodextrin Filtration Precipitation of gold using Na 2 S 2 O 5 Sonication (Resuspension) HCl/HNO 3 Reduction HAuCl 4 solution Gold nanoparticles

46 Sodium borohydride Gold-cyclodextrin complex Gold nanoparticles

47 cps/ev AuNPs K Au O Br Au K Au kev EDS spectra showed the signature peaks for Au, Br, K, O No AuNPs

48 (a) SEM images of a crystalline sample prepared by spin-coating an aqueous suspension of α Br onto a silicon substrate, and then air-drying the suspension. (b) TEM images of α Br prepared by drop-casting an aqueous suspension of α Br onto a specimen grid covered with a thin carbon support film and air-dried. (c) Cryo-TEM image (left) and SAED pattern (right) of the nanostructures of α Br. As the selected area includes several crystals with different orientations and the crystals are so small that the diffraction intensities are relatively weak, we can assign the diffraction rings composed of diffraction dots but not the specific angles between different diffraction dots from the same crystal. The scale bars in a and b are 25 (left), 5 (right), 10 (left), 5 μm (right) and in c are 1 μm (left) and 1 nm 1 (right), respectively. Selective isolation of gold facilitated by second-sphere coordination with α-cyclodextrin. Nature Communications, Liu et al. (2013)

49 Selective isolation of gold facilitated by second-sphere coordination with α-cyclodextrin. Nature Communications, Liu et al. (2013)

50 Selective isolation of gold facilitated by second-sphere coordination with α-cyclodextrin. Nature Communications, Liu et al. (2013)