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LMX3268VBHXThe International Labor Organization (ILO) points out that some 40 million tons of electronic waste (including computers, mobile phones, printers, etc.) are produced every year. The prospect is that this amount will increase even more over time, as electronic devices with new functions and more attractive designs are constantly appearing, stimulating new purchases from the consumer without the old product being out of date. Being present is most electronic devices, Printed Circuit Boards, also known as PCBs, are among the most discarded parts. They are made up of a plastic board and fibrous materials (such as plastic polymers) and a thin film of metallic substance (copper, silver, gold or nickel). These films form “tracks” or “paths” that will be responsible for the electrical conduction done by the electronic components. They can also have other materials in their composition, such as alloys, which have distinct melting points, thus allowing for manipulation and arrangement. There are several alloys available to be used, such as cerrobend, low melting point alloy or fusible alloys. Recycling electronic waste is much needed, because of the chemical components in its composition, with some of them being toxic – they can cause problems if they are disposed of incorrectly. For PCBs specifically, their recycling process involves quite some steps. Mechanical processesIt starts with a pre-treatment system that aims to separate metals, polymer materials and ceramics. After this step, the metals are sent to the metallurgical refining process. The techniques that make up this process are: comminution, classification and separation. Comminution is the technique used to reduce particle size and release metals for future concentrations. In the classification step, the material particles obtained by the previous process must be separated or classified according to their size. After the steps of comminution and classification, the enrichment of the material takes place by means of separation techniques: the parts that are interesting for the refining process of the metal are separated, discarding any impurities. In the case of circuit boards, the difference in electrical conductivity between metals and non-metals is a fundamental condition for the good result of the technique. Non-conductive materials (polymers and ceramics) can be separated from conductors (metals). Some techniques employed for this purpose are explained below. Pyrometallurgy processIt is a metallurgical process that uses high temperatures to produce pure metals, alloys or intermediate compounds. Pyrometallurgy requires high energy consumption to reach the appropriate temperatures for each stage of the process. There are several steps in the process, from the drying of the raw material to the refining of the final product. The chemical transformation step to be used will depend on the material in question. The best known are calcination (decomposition by heat in the presence of oxygen), roasting (calcination applied to sulphides) and pyrolysis (decomposition by the action of heat in an environment with little or no oxygen). Some of the major problems in the use of pyrometallurgical processes are the possibility of emission of toxic compounds such as dioxins and the high energy consumption. Hydrometallurgy processIt consists of the separation of metals. Some of the advantages of this method are the energy savings and the lower pollution of the environment. Electrometallurgy processIt is a process of refining metals through electrolysis. During electrolysis, metals without the impurities undergo electrodeposition, in which metals such as copper, zinc, cadmium, aluminum, precious metals, among others, can be recovered with a high degree of purity; Biometallurgy processThis process uses the action of microorganisms and minerals to recover valuable metals. This process requires a lot of time and metal needs to be exposed to microbial action. Where to recycle?If your computer and its PCBs are not broken but only technologically lagged, look for specialized places that accept donations of these items. You can also resell those components on the Internet, for example. However, and regardless of the final decision, always be sure that the final destination to be given to these materials is a proper one, always avoiding to harm the environment. Ref.IC ChipsPCB2B12ALMZ12001EXT

Engineers at the University of Maryland have invented an entirely new kind of battery. It is bio-compatible because it produces the same kind of ion-based electrical energy used by humans and other living things.In our bodies, flowing ions (sodium, potassium and other electrolytes) are the electrical signals that power the brain and control the rhythm of the heart, the movement of muscles, and much more. In traditional batteries, the electrical energy, or current, flows in form of moving electrons. This current of electrons out of the battery is generated within the battery by moving positive ions from one end (electrode) of a battery to the other. The new UMD battery does the opposite. It moves electrons around in the device to deliver energy that is a flow of ions. This is the first time that an ionic current-generating battery has been invented. "My intention is for ionic systems to interface with human systems," said Liangbing Hu, the head of the group that developed that battery. Hu is a professor of materials science at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also a member of the University of Maryland Energy Research Center and a principal investigator of the Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage Energy Frontier Research Center, sponsored by the Department of Energy, which funded the study. "So I came up with the reverse design of a battery," Hu said. "In a typical battery, electrons flow through wires to interface electronics, and ions flow through the battery separator. In our reverse design, a traditional battery is electronically shorted (that means electrons are flowing through the metal wires). Then ions have to flow through the outside ionic cables. In this case, the ions in the ionic cable -- here, grass fibers -- can interface with living systems." The work of Hu and his colleagues was published in the July 24 issue of Nature Communications. "Potential applications might include the development of the next generation of devices to micro-manipulate neuronal activities and interactions that can prevent and/or treat such medical problems as Alzheimer's disease and depression," said group member Jianhua Zhang, PhD, a staff scientist at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. "The battery could be used to develop medical devices for the disabled, or for more efficient drug and gene delivery tools in both research and clinical settings, as a way to more precisely treat cancers and other medical diseases, said Zhang, who performed biological experiments to test that the new battery successfully transmitted current to living cells.. "Looking far ahead on the scientific horizon, one hopes also that this invention may help to establish the possibility of direct machine and human communication," he said. Bio-compatible, bio-material batteries Because living cells work on ionic current and existing batteries provide an electronic current, scientists have previously tried to figure out how to create biocompatibility between these two by patching an electronic current into an ionic current. The problem with this approach is that electronic current needs to reach a certain voltage to jump the gap between electronic systems and ionic systems. However, in living systems ionic currents flow at a very low voltage. Thus, with an electronic-to-ionic patch the induced current would be too high to run, say, a brain or a muscle. This problem could be eliminated by using ionic current batteries, which could be run at any voltage. The new UMD battery also has another unusual feature -- it uses grass to store its energy. To make the battery, the team soaked blades of Kentucky bluegrass in lithium salt solution. The channels that once moved nutrients up and down the grass blade were ideal conduits to hold the solution. The demonstration battery the research team created looks like two glass tubes with a blade of grass inside, each connected by a thin metal wire at the top. The wire is where the electrons flow through to move from one end of the battery to the other as the stored energy slowly discharges. At the other end of each glass tube is a metal tip through which the ionic current flows. The researchers proved that the ionic current is flowing by touching the ends of the battery to either end of a lithium-soaked cotton string, with a dot of blue-dyed copper ions in the middle. Caught up in the ionic current, the copper moved along the string toward the negatively charged pole, just as the researchers predicted. "The microchannels in the grass can hold the salt solution, making them a stable ionic conductor," said Chengwei Wang, first author of the paper and a graduate student in the Materials Science and Engineering department at the University of Maryland in College Park. However, the team plans to diversify the types of ionic current electron batteries they can produce. "We are developing multiple ionic conductors with cellulose, hydrogels and polymers," said Wang. This is not the first time UMD scientists have tested natural materials in new uses. Hu and his team previously have been studying cellulose and plant materials for electronic batteries, creating a battery and a supercapacitor out of wood and a battery from a leaf. They also have created transparent wood as a potentially more energy-efficient replacement for glass windows. Creative Work Ping Liu, an associate professor in nanoengineering at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved with the study, said: "The work is very creative and its main value is in delivering ionic flow to bio systems without posing other dangers to them. Eventually, the impact of the work really resides in whether smaller and more biocompatible junction materials can be found that then interface with cells and organisms more directly and efficiently." Source:University of Maryland Ref.ML-621S/ZTNMS412FE-FL26E  

（Metal-semiconductor-metal junction (tunnel barrier) incorporated into a single graphene nanoribbon: The atomic and electronic structure of the nanoribbons can be probed with atomic resolution using advanced microscopic techniques.）   Essential electronic components, such as diodes and tunnel barriers, can be incorporated in single graphene wires (nanoribbons) with atomic precision. The goal is to create graphene-based electronic devices with extremely fast operational speeds. The discovery was made in a collaboration between Aalto University and their colleagues at Utrecht University and TU Delft in the Netherlands. The work is published in Nature Communications. The 'wonder material' graphene has many interesting characteristics, and researchers around the world are looking for new ways to utilise them. Graphene itself does not have the characteristics needed to switch electrical currents on and off and smart solutions must be found for this particular problem. "We can make graphene structures with atomic precision. By selecting certain precursor substances (molecules), we can code the structure of the electrical circuit with extreme accuracy," explains Peter Liljeroth from Aalto University, who conceived the research project together with Ingmar Swart from Utrecht University. Seamless integration The electronic properties of graphene can be controlled by synthesizing it into very narrow strips (graphene nanoribbons). Previous research has shown that the ribbon's electronic characteristics are dependent on its atomic width. A ribbon that is five atoms wide behaves similarly to a metallic wire with extremely good conduction characteristics, but adding two atoms makes the ribbon a semiconductor. "We are now able to seamlessly integrate five atom-wide ribbons with seven atom-wide ribbons. That gives you a metal-semiconductor junction, which is a basic building block of electronic components," according to Ingmar Swart. Chemistry on a surface The researchers produced their electronic graphene structures through a chemical reaction. They evaporated the precursor molecules onto a gold crystal, where they react in a very controlled way to yield new chemical compounds. "This is a different method from that currently used to produce electrical nanostructures, such as those on computer chips. For graphene, it is so important that the structure is precise at the atomic level and it is likely that the chemical route is the only effective method," Ingmar Swart concludes. Electronic characteristics The researchers used advanced microscopic techniques to also determine the electronic and transport characteristics of the resulting structures. It was possible to measure electrical current through a graphene nanoribbon device with an exactly known atomic structure. "This is the first time where we can create e.g. a tunnel barrier and really know its exact atomic structure. Simultaneous measurement of electrical current through the device allows us to compare theory and experiment on a very quantitative level," says Peter Liljeroth.  Source:Aalto University Ref.MN3306STTH2002G-TR 

(Random telegraph noise from single molecule was adsorbed on SWNT.) Noise is low-frequency random fluctuation that occurs in many systems, including electronics, environments, and organisms. Noise can obscure signals, so it is often removed from electronics and radio transmissions. The origin of noise in nanoscale electronics is currently of much interest, and devices that operate using noise have been proposed. Materials with a high surface-to-volume ratio are attractive for studying the noise produced by nanoscale electronics because they are very sensitive to changes of their surfaces. A representative material of this type is carbon nanotubes, which are rolled sheets of the graphene hexagonal network, which is only one carbon atom thick. A Japanese collaboration led by Osaka University has explored the ability of single molecules to affect the noise generated by carbon nanotube-based nanoscale electronic devices. The team fabricated simple devices consisting of a carbon nanotube bridging two electrodes. The devices were exposed to different large molecules, causing some to bind to the carbon nanotube surface. It was found that different molecules gave unique noise signals related to the properties of the molecules. The strength of the interaction between the carbon nanotubes and molecules was able to be predicted from the obtained noise signals. "The signal generated by the carbon nanotube device changed following the adsorption of specific single molecules," says first author Agung Setiadi. "This is because the adsorbed molecule generated a trap state in the carbon nanotube, which changed its conductance." What this means is that the carbon nanotube-based devices were so sensitive that the researchers were able to detect unique signature from single molecules. The ability to characterize single molecules using highly sensitive nanoelectronics is an exciting prospect in the field of sensors, particularly for neuro- and biosensor applications. "Use of noise signals to identify molecular activity ((interaction) or (active orbital)) is attractive for developing advanced sensing devices," explains corresponding author Megumi Akai-Kasaya. "We demonstrated that noise can be exploited to improve the signal detection ability of a device." The results of this successful demonstration will be published in the near future in a follow-up article. Signal detection sensitivity may be increased through controllable noise generation. These carbon nanotube-based devices illustrate that it is possible to detect single molecules through their unique noise signatures in the device current signals. Improved knowledge of the molecular-level origin of noise should lead to the development of electronics that use noise to improve their performance rather than degrade it.. Ref.A1321ELHLT-TAS5030-ATST 

Ion Transistors for the transport of both positive and negative ions, as well as biomolecules had been previously developed by a group of Organic Electronics research team at Linköping University. Now Tybrandt has now succeed in developing circuits using these Transistors similar to traditional silicon electronics. In essence of this technology we can build computer chips that can directly interface with our body cells.The major advantage of chemical circuit is that the charge carrier consists of chemical substances with various functions and this gives us new opportunities to regulate and control signal paths of Human Body Cells.In a conventional transistor there are three terminals Gate, Source and Drain. When signal is applied to Gate terminal, electrons flow from Source to Drain. Electrons are the charge carrier in conventional transistor, but in the new Ion Transistor the ionic neurotransmitter acetylcholine is the charge carrier. NAND gates and Inverters can be created using these Ion transistors, which means that it can be used to implement any logic function.Magnus Berggren, Professor of Organic Electronics and leader of the research group says that, it can be used to send signals to muscle synapses when our muscle signalling system may not works for some reasons and our chips works with common signalling substances such as acetylcholine.The research in Ion Transistors which can control and transport ions and charged biomolecules was begun before 3 years by Berggren (professor in Organic Electronics at the Department of Science and Technology at Linköping University) and Tybrandt (a doctoral student). Researchers at Karolinska Institute then used this Transistors to control the delivery of the signalling substance acetylcholine to individual cells. It hopes that it can restore the lost movement of paralysed peoples.Mr. Tybrandt in conjunction with Robert Forchheimer (Professor of Information Coding at LiU) has taken the next steps by developing chemical chips which contains logic gates, that allows the construction of all logic functions.Ref:KY56-C4706KY56-KSC5024RTUKY56-MJL21193G

A software called DesignDRIVE Fast Current Loop that makes C2000 microcontrollers (MCUs) the first devices to push current-loop performance to less than 1 microsecond, has been introduced by Texas Instruments. Together, TI's C2000 MCU portfolio and DesignDRIVE software delivers System-on-Chip (SOC) functionality which simplifies drive control system development.       The DesignDRIVE Fast Current Loop software out performs traditional microcontroller (MCU)-based current-loop solutions and can simplify designs by eliminating the Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) typically used for external current-loop control. Fast Current Loop software is a free update available for C2000 controlSUITE software.   TI's DesignDRIVE technology is a unified hardware and software platform that makes it easier for engineers to develop and evaluate solutions for a variety of industrial drive and servo topologies. As a key part of DesignDRIVE solutions, the Fast Current Loop software enables developers to achieve higher control performance while saving valuable board space and simplifying thermal considerations.     Features and benefits of TI's DesignDRIVE Fast Current Loop software   · Innovative subcycle Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) update techniques significantly improve control-loop bandwidths to potentially triple the motor torque response. · A novel cycle-scavenging C2000 MCU needs only 460 nanoseconds for field-oriented control processing. · A new complex controller replaces traditional proportional integration control and facilitates greater stability at higher speeds. · Industrial drive systems designed with Fast Current Loop software on a C2000 MCU, like the TMS320F28379, delivers SOC functionality to reduce board space, complexity and overall cost.      Ref. KY32-TMS320F28379 KY362-C2000