Updates to this story
Scientists have developed a way to produce microbe-filled capsules that can recover rare metal indium, used in the creation of touchscreens.
Health products maker Morishita Jintan Co have worked with Osaka Prefecture University to develop the technology which consists of microbes surrounded by a semipermeable synthetic membrane, writes Nikkei.
When placed in a solution containing indium the capsules are able to let metal ions pass through the membrane, before being taken up by the microbes.
Indium is a material that is used to create indium tin oxide, crucial to the production of touchscreens and LCDs. It is widely thought that there is a shortage of the material, with a US Geological Survey putting indium reserves at 16,000 with speculation that with current consumption reserves will be exhausted by 2020.
According to Morisha Jintan the capsules facilitate the work of the microbes, making the use of organic solvents unnecessary, making the recovery process far safer.
A patent has been applied for and the firm aim to have commercial applications ready in the next few years, utilising its drug making technology and support from manufacturers that use rare metals.
Indium, which is as abundant in the Earth's crust as silver, remains available and is not in danger of running out.
The metals industry has been investing in process improvements and capacity over the last several years to make more indium available to the market. The industry can and will continue to do so if the demand is there. Like with any metal or resource, short-term availability could fluctuate intermittently, due to numerous factors including: short-term demand fluctuations, the time lag required to install additional capacity, government regulation, and the lack of information suppliers receive about future demand.
In addition, indium is heavily reclaimed and recycled. That said, there is room to improve the rate of reclaim. This is something that we, as a company and as an industry, are addressing. Based on mining reserves (100 years at a rate of 500 MT of virgin indium per year), plus residue reserves (30 years at a rate of 500 MT per year), combined with continued improvements in recoveries of virgin and reclaimed materials, and on-going exploration, the world will not run out of indium.
More on the topic of indium sustainability is available in 2 papers: 1) by the Indium Corporation, 2) by the United States Geological Survey (USGS):
1) http://bit.ly/94VNVp
2) http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1300/2004-1300.pdf
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