IIT Madras Pioneers Eco-Friendly E-Waste Recycling for Valuable Metals

• IIT Madras researchers developed a green and sustainable method to recover valuable metals like copper and iron from e-waste.
• The technique utilizes Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES), which are biodegradable, natural compound-derived liquids, to dissolve metals without environmental harm.
• This innovative approach aims to significantly reduce pollution caused by conventional e-waste recycling methods that use harsh chemicals and produce toxic effluents.
• The method is biodegradable, non-toxic, water-efficient, and can recover multiple metals, directly producing valuable nanomaterials.
• The research, led by Professors Ranjit Bauri and S Pushpavanam, and scholar Sinu Kurian, was published in The Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy.

Why It Matters: IIT Madras developed an eco-friendly, sustainable method using natural solvents to recover valuable metals from e-waste.