Gold is most commonly used for jewellery and investing but there is growing demand for gold in technology. According to World Council Gold, gold demand in the electronics sector increased in the first quarter of 2024. Expected and predicted future growth of AI products is leading the charge in the recovery of gold demand in the electronics sector. A demand for AI-powered phones and computers is expected to increase demand for gold in technology. Alongside smartphones and computers, how else is gold used in technology and electronics? 

Motherboards and Circuit Components 

Smartphones and computer components include many gold-plated parts to facilitate the flow of electricity. Central processors, circuit boards, memory chips, and wiring are all plated with gold. Circuit boards are the biggest use of gold in computers, especially motherboards, for holding and communicating with many electrical components in the device. The edges of many wires and components on the circuit boards will have gold-plated connectors and wires to direct electrical currents. Gold is important to electronics since it offers unparalleled conductivity, resistance to corrosion, and malleability, with the only issue being that gold is expensive. For that cause, many components are gold plated instead and not created entirely out of gold. The rising price of gold coupled with technological advancements has also caused the amount of gold in electronics to steadily decreased over the years. With the advancement of technology, smartphones and personal computers have gotten smaller over time, decreasing the amount of gold in each device. When recycling devices for gold you would find that electronics made in the 60s or 70s contain the most gold. Each device today contains around 0.20 grams of gold. 

Medical Devices

Gold alloyed with stainless steel is commonly used in medical settings because of its inherent properties. Gold is biocompatible and won’t create adverse reactions when exposed to different parts of the human body. Equipment such as stents, implants and dental brackets need to stay in the body for a long time. A biocompatible and corrosion-resistant metal like gold allows the implant to thrive and last in an environment like the human body. Other medical devices such as pacemakers require the transmission of electricity to work properly. Gold is an excellent conductor of electricity with minimal resistance and paired with its resistance to corrosion, make it the perfect component for a pacemaker. The metal is also dense, making it radiopaque, meaning radiation can’t see through the material. This allows gold implants to show up on X-rays and help medical professionals to locate foreign objects inside your body. Gold’s unique properties as one a precious metals make it an invaluable use in medicine despite its costs. 

Spacesuits 

How is gold used in spacesuits? Visors on spacesuits are coated with gold to protect astronauts from the light and radiation from the sun. In space, you exist in a vacuum, and there is no atmosphere to scatter and diffuse the radiation coming from the sun. Another material is needed to absorb the radiation and heat from the sun to protect astronauts from harm. Gold is used on the visors of a spacesuit to deflect the sun's radiation and infrared light to protect your eyes from getting burned and to prevent astronauts from getting too hot. Infrared light is light that cannot be seen by the human eye and can only detect it by heat. Astronauts need reflective material like gold to protect their eyes and bodies from burning due to infrared light. Gold is both non-corrosive and easier to work with than other metals since it is so malleable, making it the perfect metal for space travel. 

Space Telescopes 

The James Webb Space Telescope was developed as a joint project between NASA, the ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) to study the formation of stars and solar systems light years away. It’s one of the most powerful space telescopes ever built and initial concepts and design for the telescope began in 1996. It was launched into orbit in 2021 and arrived at its destination in 2022, 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth. The telescope utilizes 18 massive 6.5-meter Beryllium mirrors as the main mechanism to capture images. The Beryllium mirrors are covered in a very thin layer of gold, only 100 nanometers in size, which is about one ten thousandths the size of a strand of human hair. The fine gold is vapourized onto the mirrors and coats each segment of the mirrors to optimize the mirrors for reflecting infrared light, which is the primary form of light the telescope will be observed in space. Gold is extremely reflective and doesn’t tarnish easily, making it the perfect element to use in a telescope orbiting Earth. As a point of reference, common silver and aluminum mirrors on Earth reflect around 82-95% of infrared light. The gold coating on the mirrors in the James Webb telescope allows it to reflect 99% of infrared light. Although gold coats all 18 mirrors in the telescope, the thin layer only weighs 48.25g together, showcasing just how small the layer of gold on the mirrors actually is.