Metals From Waste, Lessons From the Past to Shape the Future

MetalMiner: "I was amazed by the resigned comments of US recyclers that it was simply uneconomic to recycle e-waste in the US and decided to take a look at the state of the art, because as the Bal Maidens demonstrate, time and technology do move on.

It turns out that China is publishing scientific paper after scientific paper on industrial scale e-waste reprocessing. Some of the techniques, such as the dis-assembly of printed circuit boards using ultrasound, are already operating at industrial scale. Others, like the use of super-critical methanol or water to boil the components off circuit boards, are still in R&D.

But there is a definite and conscious technological effort going on to recover as much of the metal from e-waste as economically possible. Judging by the science, the Chinese are having a great time mining these new deposits and are looking forward to the forecast increase in trade."

EUVA’s LPP Light Source Achieves Breakthrough 104W Power Output for EUV Lithography Tools

Nanotechnology: "The EUVA achieved its breakthrough 104 Watt power output at a conversion efficiency of 2.5% by having a CO2 laser of 7.9 kW radiated onto a Sn droplet target of 60 microns in diameter.

The organization plans to achieve greater gains in power output by increasing the CO2 laser output and enhancing the conversion efficiency, and has an aggressive roadmap to achieve the output power needed for EUV lithography systems geared toward volume production applications. Today's announced achievement was done in close cooperation with Komatsu Ltd., a member company of the EUVA. The EUV light sources that will leverage this technology will be marketed by Gigaphoton Inc., another member of the EUVA."

Tin colouring method

WO2010046656A1: "A method of colouring the surface of a tin-containing article is provided, the method comprising contacting at least a portion of the surface of the article with a solution comprising a thiosulphate, preferably under substantially neutral or acidic conditions.

In one embodiment, the solution contains sodium thiosulphate and citric acid and further comprises a copper salt, together with acetone and/or glycerol. The method is preferably conducted at elevated temperatures, in particular by heating the solution to a temperature of from 45 to 85 'C. The method is particularly suitable for the colouring of pewter articles, but may be applied to a wide range of tin-containing materials and tin alloys"

Chemtura Completes Sale of PVC Additives Business

Factiva: "Chemtura says it has completed the previously announced sale of its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) additives business to Artek Surfin Chemicals (Mumbai) and Aterian Investment Partners (New York). Artek and Aterian have named the PVC business Galata Chemicals. The PVC additives business develops, manufactures and sells tin stabilizers, liquid and solid mixed metals, liquid phosphite esters, epoxidized soybean oil, thiochemicals, organic-based stabilizers, and impact modifiers used primarily in PVC applications. The business has plants in North America and Europe, including two principal facilities at Taft, LA and Lampertheim, Germany."

Treatment of solar polycrystalline silicon in liquid tin

Scopus: "It is shown that the treatment of the p-typc polycrystalline silicon in liquid tin at ∼730 'C for 1-4 h considerably increases the lifetime of minority charge carriers"

Polystyrene-tin and polystyrene-tin oxide core-shell nanostructures for the assembly and integration of colloidal particles

Scopus: "Polystyrene-tin and polystyrene-tin oxide core-shell structures have been fabricated by a seeded chemical reduction method.

Polystyrene seeds were firstly synthesized by an emulsion polymerization process, and these micro- and submicron-sized particles were then treated with a thiol coupling agent. The reduction of tin ions (Sn2 ) was realized by a reducing agent of sodium borohydride in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant.

Shell formation was evident by particle growth, and also was confirmed by element analysis through energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) showed that a thick and uniform coating was formed on the polystyrene colloidal particles. Either tin or tin oxide was coated on the polystyrene particle surfaces depending on the atmospheric environment (nitrogen vs. air). After heating the polystyrene-tin core-shell nanostructures at a temperature of 150 �C in the air, polystyrene particles were assembled and bonded by the tin solder layers, providing a simple and efficient way to form permanently-bonded integrated structures."