Key metals for smart phones

In an increasingly connected world, smartphones have become an indispensable part of our lives.

More than 60 percent of the world's population already owns a mobile phone, and smartphone penetration continues to rise in developing countries.

Below is a list of all the key metals that smartphones contain.

Touch screen

The screen consists of multiple layers of glass and plastic, covered by a layer of highly conductive transparent metal called indium.

Indium reacts when touched by another electrical conductor, like our fingers.

When we touch the screen, our fingers apply pressure to the screen, creating an electric current that changes the charge at that location.The device treats this charge as a "touch event" and triggers a response.

Display

A smartphone display displays images on a LIQUID crystal display. Like most TV and computer monitors, cell phone LCDS use electricity to adjust the color of each pixel.

Several rare earth elements are used to create color on screens.

Electronic components

Smartphones use a variety of antenna systems, such as Bluetooth, GPS and WIFI.

The short distances between these antenna systems make it difficult to achieve perfect performance.Capacitors made of the rare, hard, blue-gray metal tantalum can be used for filtering and frequency tuning.

Nickel is also used in capacitors in electronic connectors, and gallium, another silver-white metal, is used in semiconductors.

Microphone, speaker and vibration unit

Nickel is used for microphone diaphragm (vibrate with sound wave).Magnets for speakers and microphones contain rare earth elements such as neodymium, praseodymium and gadolinium, and vibratory devices contain neodymium, terbium and dysprosium.

Encapsulation

Many materials can be used to make phone cases, such as plastic, aluminum, carbon fiber and even gold.In general, nickel reduces electromagnetic interference.Magnesium alloy is superior in electromagnetic interference shielding.

The battery

Unless you bought your smartphone 10 years ago, most come with lithium-ion batteries.The battery is charged and discharged by the movement of lithium ions between anode and cathode.

Future Development Trend

Consumers want more useful features, which will drive smartphone development.Foldable, 5G communications, higher download speeds and higher photographic requirements are expected in the short term.

As technology evolves, a new generation of smartphones is sure to drive demand for new metals.