Very often we find claims on the internet that are either dubious or downright unbelievable, for example some sources claim that up to 70 of the known chemical elements are used in the manufacture of smart phones. Bearing in mind that 44 of the 118 listed elements (Hydrogen to Orgenesson) are either radioactive, a gas or unstable, this means that just about every element we could use – is used!
. . . So, let’s see how many Google can account for . . .
Obviously, phones contain plastic, some of which will be PVC and possibly also a fluoro-polymers, so this gives us Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, Chlorine and Fluorine. Often polymers contain fi re retarding agents which can be bromine-based compounds. This gives us our first 6 elements.
Aluminium, Zinc, Magnesium alloys are commonly used for the casing, and with posh phones using titanium. There is also stainless so adding Iron, Chromium, Nickel, Molybdenum, Manganese, Silicon, Carbon, Sulphur and Phosphprous to the list. Now 19 elements and counting.
Electrical conductivity is important, so there will be Copper and Silver (the most conductive element) and where it is critical, a microscopic dab of gold is used. In fact, there may be more gold per ton of mobile phones than there is in a ton of gold ore. Platinum, palladium and rhodium are also used to coat electrical contacts, and zirconia is in the signal amplifier. 26 elements and counting.
Lead free solders still contain traces of Pb and also Tin, Antimony and Bismuth, making 30 so far.
Batteries contain numerous elements including Lithium, Cobalt, Cadmium, Vanadium, Thulium and with Beryllium contacts. So now 36 elements, and by the way I hope you are all appreciating the Breaking Bad themed text!?
High spec. phone magnets (within the speaker) contain Neodymium and Boron plus traces of rare earth elements such as Praseodymium, Dysprosium, Germanium, Terbium and even Samarium. Yttrium and Scandium also find their way into electrical circuitry, as does Tantalum which forms the anode of a capacitor. Another 10, taking us to 46.
Together with other elements LEDs contain Gallium Arsenide, Ytterbium and other Nitrides, and Tungsten is used is used as a heat sink and to provide mass for vibrating devices. 51 and counting.
The touch screen is coated with Indium Tin Oxide and, twelve elements are used in the screen to generate vibrant colours – including Gadolinium, Europium, Lanthanum and Cerium. LCDs contain Iodine, Holmium and up to 2g of Mercury. Now 55.
The ‘Gorilla Glass’ is chemically strengthened by replacing some of the Sodium atoms with Potassium, and glass already contains Calcium. Finally, analysis of scrap phones has revealed Niobium and Tellurium, giving a grand total of 60 elements.
REEs (rare earth elements) have for decades been added to steels and other alloys after it was found that tiny amounts of such ‘fairy dust’ improved certain mechanical properties. Following the advent of mobile phones, and more recently electric car technology, our demand for REEs has become ever more insatiable, and we are having to become ever more inventive about finding sources of such materials.
The toxic wasteland, pictured here, is a disused copper mine on the top of Parys Mountain on the island of Anglesey. Let’s hope we don’t make the entire planet look like this in our relentless search for these rare earth elements!
. . . to make one smart phone requires between 12 and 44 tonnes of mined rock and 13 tonnes of water.
For further details visit – https://www.axiom-ltd.com/
Published in Chemicals Northwest Elements Magazine