Rapid extraction of europium from spent fluorescent lamps

https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/07/mining-rare-earth-metals-from-electronic-waste.html

by enopod_ • 2 years ago

52 9 2 years ago

hinkley2• 2 years ago

TIL that compact fluorescent lamp bulbs contained yttrium and/or europium as a phosphorescent material.

HPsquared• 2 years ago

Europium is also used in Euro banknotes as an anti-counterfeiting measure, again as a phosphor that glows under UV light (in physical terms it's the same application as a fluorescent tube)

Qem• 2 years ago

Now I wonder how much inflation would be necessary to make "mining" europium from low denomination Euro banknotes profitable. There's places were "mining" copper from street poles is already profitable, and wire theft is a huge problem.

DoctorOetker• 2 years ago

I understand the video is didactic, but as shown the mercury in the fluorescent lamp is lost.

passwordoops• 2 years ago

Mercury isn't mentioned in the paper (1). Keep in mind this is less about cleaning up than finding an economical way to recover and recycle rare earth metals

1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48733-z

Rapid extraction of europium from spent fluorescent lamps

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