Who does not use smartphones these days? Almost everyone uses them but not everyone knows completely about them. This article is about the life of a smartphone so that when you grab your cell phone the next time, look at its incredible construction. Your cell phone might look like any other high-tech gadget to you, but it is made up of an array of materials along with glass, plastic, and metal These are the most common components of a phone and are found in almost every phone.
Glass, metal, and plastic:
- Glass
Glass, various metals and plastic are the major components of a phone. If we have to classify it is very easy to say that glass is probably the main component and the component that is visible enough. The glass that is used in manufacturing isn’t any old glass. This glass is made up of aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide with an ultra-thin layer of indium tin oxide added so when you touch the screen you don’t damage it.
Various smartphone companies such as Motorola, Samsung, and Nokia use Gorilla Glass as their phone’s screen. Gorilla glass is a special thin and lightweight toughened glass made by Corning.
In some smartphones, Sapphire, a material manufactured from aluminum oxide, may take the place of glass due to it being three times harder than Gorilla Glass. This is because the expensive material is not yet commonly used in cellphones. However, Apple does use sapphire to give added protection to its iPhone 5 camera.
- Metals
The most common metals used in the manufacturing of a cell phone are aluminum alloys, lightweight materials commonly found in the phone case. To make the batteries, Lithium cobalt oxide and carbon graphite are used.
For wiring of the phone, elements like gold, copper, and silver are used. Whereas, for the circuitry, Platinum and tungsten are used.
97 percent of the rare metals used in your cell phone are mined in China. These rare metals are used to make the glass in your cellphone harder. Neodymium-iron-boron alloys, dysprosium, and praseodymium are used to make the motors, magnets, and speakers found on your phone.
- Plastic
The third most common material on your phone is plastic. In the case of metal plastic it is often used. When you drop or scratch your phone, the use of plastic in a cell phone makes it more resistant to damage.
Plastic can also stand up to all but the most extreme temperature fluctuations. It does not cause reception problems when you’re trying to find a cell signal as the material is very flexible.
Get rid of the e-waste dilemma
Pollution is affecting our mother Earth in the worst way and the need for action is self-evident. We have to find ways to dig ourselves out of this and the end-goal is clear: finding more sustainable ways to make, recycle and reuse our electronics. The tricky question is, How?
Rapid technological advances mean continual consumer demand for newer and better than before gadgets. The need of the hour, however, is to encourage the consumers to refurbish their used devices. They should be told by the manufacturers that instead of throwing them away, improving the phone repair ability is a viable option. But tech companies are not doing this. Instead, they are contributing to limit this by pushing out new products. Instead, we must overhaul the supply chain.
- At present we are only increasing the pollution. Electronics are made, sold and then buried in landfills. To achieve a meaningful change, we need a transition. Manufacturers should reuse the minerals used in their electronics.
- We need better technology To fulfill this vision of the future.
- Large scale sonic technology has been introduced. It is traditionally used to remediate valuable but contaminated soils.
- It is a wise choice to keep these devices out of the trash considering all the materials used in your cell phone.
- About 140 million cell phones are discarded every year, according to the Minerals Education Coalition.
- There are almost approximately 2,100 metric tons of copper and 3.9 metric tons of gold, among other metals, plastics, and glasses in these phones that could be kept out of landfills. The manufacturing companies need to inform people so that they start doing something about it on their own.
Summary:
If you want to keep your discarded phone from the landfill, there are a lot of environmental protection centers. These centers offer a list of recycling ways and methods. Start it before its too late.
