26 Recyclability of Tungsten, Tantalum and Neodymium …
375
Fig. 26.10 Microscopy cross section of tantalum capacitor “Js” from Samsung Galaxy S7
26.4 Results
26.4.1 Tungsten Content
The tungsten in the LRA type vibration alarms is usually contained in a ring of
tungsten. Here the tungsten content was verified by checking the density of the
material, and the weight of the ring is calculated as tungsten. For the slightly different
LRA Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4 mini the presumed content of tungsten is embedded
in a plastic chip. Here the weight together with the plastic is used. For the taptic
engine of the iPhone the materials could be separated sufficiently to get the weight
contributions.
Figure 26.11 shows the weight contributions of the disassembled parts of the
vibration actuators, plus one LRA type, which is not from one of the disassembled
models. The tungsten content based on these models of 2012–2016 ranges between
0.35 and 1.2 g. For the Galaxy S3 LTE tungsten content reaches 56% of the complete
actuator assembly.
26.4.2 Neodymium Content
The presence of neodymium could be verified for all magnetic materials through
density measurement. Figure 26.12 shows the different material weights in loudspeakers per smartphone model. Neodymium magnet weight is determined in the
375
Fig. 26.10 Microscopy cross section of tantalum capacitor “Js” from Samsung Galaxy S7
26.4 Results
26.4.1 Tungsten Content
The tungsten in the LRA type vibration alarms is usually contained in a ring of
tungsten. Here the tungsten content was verified by checking the density of the
material, and the weight of the ring is calculated as tungsten. For the slightly different
LRA Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4 mini the presumed content of tungsten is embedded
in a plastic chip. Here the weight together with the plastic is used. For the taptic
engine of the iPhone the materials could be separated sufficiently to get the weight
contributions.
Figure 26.11 shows the weight contributions of the disassembled parts of the
vibration actuators, plus one LRA type, which is not from one of the disassembled
models. The tungsten content based on these models of 2012–2016 ranges between
0.35 and 1.2 g. For the Galaxy S3 LTE tungsten content reaches 56% of the complete
actuator assembly.
26.4.2 Neodymium Content
The presence of neodymium could be verified for all magnetic materials through
density measurement. Figure 26.12 shows the different material weights in loudspeakers per smartphone model. Neodymium magnet weight is determined in the