Catalytic
pyrolysis was one of the most promising technologies
for energy recovery and bromide removal from nonmetals of waste printed
circuit boards (NM-WPCBs). However, the low efficiency of debromination,
large dosage of catalysts, and high consumption of energy were the
main reasons for limiting the application and popularity of catalytic
pyrolysis. To solve these problems, the capillary action of molten
NaOH–KOH was used to enhance the pyrolysis and debromination
of NM-WPCBs. In this paper, the molten state of NaOH–KOH was
achieved at an NaOH/(NaOH–KOH) mole ratio of 0.5 and a temperature
of 182 °C. The maximum debromination efficiency reached 95.0%,
while the average activation energy decreased from 201.4 to 112.6
KJ/mol. Kinetic results suggested that nucleation and diffusion action
played key roles when α was below 0.6. Herein, the enhancing
mechanism for the capillary action of catalysts was analyzed. First,
molten NaOH–KOH spontaneously spread out on the surface of
NM-WPCBs with the capillary force. Then, the Br atoms coordinated
with Na/K to form [NM-WPCBs-Br···NaOH/KOH], in which
the electrons transfer from Br to Na/K, resulting in the cleavage
of the C–Br bond. Afterwards, the bromine radical (Br*) bonded
with the hydroxyl radical (H*) to form HBr, which was removed by NaOH–KOH.
This work offers inspiration for recycling other plastics by removing
contamination and improving the efficiency.