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US 2026/0085378 A1Published application
Method of extracting one or more rare and precious metals from a substrate comprising the same
AssigneeHelsingin Yliopisto
InventorsAri Salmi, Jere Hyvönen, Joni Mäkinen, Antti Kuronen, Axi Holmström, Topi Pudas, Tom Sillanpää, Tapio Kotiaho, Edward Haeggström
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to methods of extracting rare and precious metals (RPMs) from a substrate, in particular from recyclable materials such as electronic waste and exhaust cataly sators. The extraction is based on subjecting regions of interest of the substrate comprising the RPMs to focused high intensity ultrasound waves.
Claims17
A method of extracting one or more rare and precious metals (RPMs) from a substrate comprising the same, the method comprising:
- i) providing the substrate,
- ii) immersing the substrate into a fluid,
- iii) scanning at least part of surface of the substrate with ultrasonic waves, wherein intensity of ultrasound at the surface is less than 1 W/cm2,
- iv) recording echoes of the ultrasonic waves,
- v) constructing an amplitude map of the at least part of the surface of the substrate based on the recorded echoes,
- vi) selecting one or more regions of interest of the at least part of the surface of the substrate based on the amplitude map, and
- vii) subjecting the one or more regions of interest to focused ultrasonic waves, wherein the intensity of ultrasound at the one or more regions of interest is at least 1 W/cm2, thereby extracting the one or more RPMs from the substrate to the fluid.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.