Researchers from St. Petersburg State University built a new filter for effective extraction of noble metals from industrial waste waters.
      
      The filters helps extracting ions of gold, silver and platinum from processing media, as well as purifying solutions from photographic, jewelry, and electroplating industries. The filtering unit consists of several layers of porous carbon material, covered with a conducting polymer, able to reduce ions of precious metals.
      
      Conducting polymers combine properties of conductors (metals) and isolators (polymers), and can be useful in nanocomposite materials. Metal ions are included in such polymers due to spontaneous reduction.
      
      However, lack of data on sorbent recovery and spring capacity prevents the development form being used on industrial scale.
      
      Source: Science & Technologies