Summary
Rare earth elements are classed as critical raw materials, and recovering them from the water streams of processed electronic waste is attractive because adsorption is simple, cheap and effective. This study embeds nanometric cerium oxide particles into electrospun fibres to act as the adsorbent, giving the nanoparticles a supporting structure that can be handled, deployed and retrieved - the practical obstacle that usually stands between a good adsorbent powder and a usable recovery system.
Authors & Affiliations
Linari Electrospinning Systems
Linari Engineering electrospinning apparatus
The fibres were produced on a Linari Engineering apparatus (Pisa, Italy) operating at 20 kV, with a suspension of cerium oxide nanoparticles fed into the spinning solution. See our range of electrospinning systems.