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THE VALUE OF GOLD
Golds value in industrial applications Part2
Article # : gold134
Continued From: Gold's value in industrial applications Part1
Environmental Applications
Recently, it has been discovered that gold nanoparticles, measuring only 25 nanometres across, can split oxygen atoms, thereby facilitating oxidation reactions, which create useful organic products as oxygen atoms and carbon compounds combine. New research published in the top scientific journal Nature has revealed that gold catalysts can clean up an important chemical process that is used every day to produce tons of pharmaceuticals, detergents & food additives.
As a chemical catalyst, gold is playing an important role in new environmental applications, such as pollution control (mercury emissions) and fuel cells. By way of example, the Institute for Green Technology in Tokyo has 30 scientists working on gold catalysts for environmentally sensitive, or "green", technology applications.
To give you an idea of the importance of catalysis, it has been estimated that about one trillion dollars of the Gross Domestic Product of the United States is derived from processes that use some form of industrial catalysis.
In recent years, catalysts using gold have become a very hot topic of research. There have been breakthroughs in research studies that have shown gold to be an excellent catalyst in a number of important chemical reactions. Some of the potential applications include:
• Pollution control in diesel-powered vehicles, and in the environment;
• Clean energy generation, by means of fuel cells;
• Sensors, for detecting gases in industrial processes;
• And as catalysts for chemical and petrochemical processes. Gold may lead to new routes for the manufacture of many vital chemicals.
Other Applications
The standard touch-tone telephone would not function without the 33 contacts made from gold it contains. Air bag systems fitted in more than 30 million cars around the world rely on gold-coated electrical contacts. And every time you touch a key on your computer it strikes a gold circuit that relays your command to the computer's microprocessor.
Gold is one of the most effective conductors of electricity known to man, and its reliability compared with other metals such as palladium or copper is increased by the fact that gold is also an excellent conductor of heat. Gold is also inert and, therefore, does not react when it comes into contact with other substances. In addition, Gold does not corrode or tarnish, so it is much more reliable than other metals in electronic applications.
Source: Responsiblegold.org