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Gold Nuggets Can Be Formed With Electricity, Scientists Claim (futurism.com)

submitted 1 month ago by i_have_no_enemies@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[-] Zorsith 9 points 1 month ago

I mean... actual gold isn't crazy valuable these days, is it? It's used in quite a bit of electronics for its corrosion resistance and conductivity IIRC.

[-] jmiller@lemm.ee 18 points 1 month ago

Gold prices have risen steadily for a long time, partly because of its use in electronics. Over $2500/ounce now. But another quirk of gold is the ease with which we can make very thin coatings of it over other materials, sometimes only a few atoms thick. So it is commonly used, but in very very small amounts per device.

[-] Zorsith 4 points 1 month ago

TIL. Electroplating is cool stuff

[-] chaogomu@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

The main reason to electroplate things in gold is that corrosion resistance.

The thinner the coating, the better. Mostly because gold isn't a very good conductor.

Copper is one of the best conductors available. But the corrosion is the problem. It's nonconductive.

Also a fun fact. Stainless steel is a better conductor than gold. But gold is slightly easier to use in electroplating.

[-] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

I think you might want to do a little digging in your undergrad science books:

The units of electrical conductivity are measured in siemens per meter (S/m). Here’s the electrical conductivity of a few metals:

Stainless Steel: 1.0 - 1.5 × 10^6 S/m
Aluminum: 3.77 × 10^7 S/m
Copper: 5.96 × 10^7 S/m
Gold: 4.52 × 10^7 S/m
Silver: 6.30 × 10^7 S/m

In this list silver has the highest conductivity, and stainless steel the lowest conductivity.

[-] CucumberFetish@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago

Most of the gold's price comes from it being used in jewelry and as an investment. Less than 7% of gold is used by the tech industry

https://www.statista.com/statistics/299609/gold-demand-by-industry-sector-share/

[-] jmiller@lemm.ee 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Well, that is the amount gold that is mined or recycled every year that is used in electronics. The thing is though, a lot of the gold used in electronics is never recovered. So a considerable amount of the gold used in electronics is removed from from circulation in a way the gold in jewelry or bullion or coins isn't. It isn't the primary driver of gold's price increase, but it is a significant factor.

this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2024

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