A new extraction molecule uses electricity to recover metals while sharply reducing the need for chemical reagents.

Recovering valuable metals from discarded electronics, mining streams, and industrial waste usually depends on large amounts of chemical reagents. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a molecule that could allow electricity to replace much of that chemistry, potentially making metal recovery cleaner, simpler, and more energy efficient.

The findings, led by chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Xiao Su, were published in ACS Energy Letters.