Efficient separation and recovery of gallium and indium in spent CIGS materials

Hu, Die; Ma, Baozhong; Li, Xiang; Lv, Yingwei; Zhang, Wenjuan; Chen, Yongqiang; Wang, Chengyan

doi:10.1016/j.seppur.2021.120087

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In the ultrasound-O 3 treatment, the solution can be recycled to achieve the enrichment of metal elements from different batch treatments. When the concentration is high enough, the solution can be used for metal extraction through hydrometallurgical technologies and electrochemical methods. ,,, This approach can save the leaching solution used in subsequent metal recovery and reduce the generation of wastewater, which can contribute to the green recovery of valuable metals.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Combined Technology of Rich Reactive Oxygen Species and Ultrasound for the Decapsulation of Waste Cu(InGa)Se₂ Solar Cells

Huang

Lin

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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The rapidly developing Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cells will face a large amount of scrapping in the next 5–10 years. Waste Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cells are rich in metal and organic resources. Decapsulation is the key step for resource recovery. However, there is a lack of environmentally friendly and efficient decapsulating method. In this study, a combined technology of rich reactive oxygen species and ultrasound was proposed for decapsulating waste Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cells. Ethylene-vinyl acetate, polyethylene terephthalate, and cell layer can be completely separated after 6 h ultrasound-O3 (10 g/h) or 4 h ultrasound-H2O2 (30 wt %) treatment. Under the attack of reactive oxygen species, C–O and C–C bonds in ethylene-vinyl acetate fractured. Structures including −CH3, crosslinking bridge, vinyl acetate side chain, and alkane chain were destroyed. The crosslinked ethylene-vinyl acetate network was damaged, resulting in the adhesion loss. Long-chain and cyclic ketones, esters, and alkane were mainly generated, which are non-toxic natural substances and even have a high value. The O3-ultrasound method can continuously generate reactive oxygen species, excessive O3 can spontaneously decompose into O2, and the solutions can be reused. This study might be the first time to propose the rich reactive oxygen species and ultrasound combined technology for decapsulating waste Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cells, which contributes to the environmentally friendly recovery.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Combined Technology of Rich Reactive Oxygen Species and Ultrasound for the Decapsulation of Waste Cu(InGa)Se₂ Solar Cells

Huang

Lin

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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“…In a study documented in reference [34], CIGS materials were treated through a roasting process, which facilitates a transformation of selenides to oxides and a volatilization of Se. Afterward, a hydrochloric acid solution was utilized to leach the oxides in the experiments.…”

Section: Leachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Recovery and Separation of Gallium and Indium from Waste

Kluczka

2024

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Gallium and indium are crucial metals in various industries, such as the medical and telecommunication industries. They can find applications as pure metals, alloys and alloy admixtures, oxides, organometallic compounds, and compounds with elements such as nitrogen or arsenic. Recovery of these two metals from waste is an important issue for two main reasons. First, gallium and indium are scattered in the Earth’s crust and their minerals are too rare to serve as a primary source. Second, e-waste contributes to the rapidly growing problem of Earth littering, as its amount increased significantly in recent years. Therefore, it is essential to develop and implement procedures that will enable the recovery of valuable elements from waste and limit the emission of harmful substances into the environment. This paper discusses technological operations and methods that are currently used or may be used to produce pure gallium and indium or their oxides from waste. The first step was described—waste pretreatment, including disassembly and sorting in several stages. Then, mechanical treatment as well as physical, chemical, and physicochemical separations were discussed. The greatest emphasis was placed on the hydrometallurgical methods of gallium and indium recovery, to be more precise on the extraction and various sorption methods following the leaching stage. Methods of obtaining pure metals or metal oxides and their refining processes were also mentioned.

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“…1-6 However, Ga is a considerably dispersed element that has almost no independent ore in nature; it always exists with other elements, such as in sphalerite and bauxite. Recovery from by-products of metallurgical processes or enrichment in acid-alkaline leaching solutions of mineral industry wastes are the major production methods of Ga. 7 According to the literature, the specific methods mainly include hydrometallurgy, pyrolysis, bioleaching, and acid leaching, followed by further purification in the form of solvent extraction and precipitation. 8 Among these methods, hydrometallurgy is highly effective and is considered the most suitable method for recovering Ga, although it usually consumes a lot of energy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chitosan derived layered porous carbon and its performance on gallium adsorption

Cui

Cong

et al. 2023

J of Chemical Tech & Biotech

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BACKGROUND Gallium (Ga) is widely used in the preparation of low‐melting alloys and is also mainly used in electronics. However, Ga is a rare‐scattered element that has no independent ore deposits. Fortunately, adsorbents with high specific surface area have shown great potential for the recovery and enrichment of Ga from mineral industry wastes or recycled electronics. Consequently, porous carbons with hierarchical layered structures were prepared as adsorbent for the recovery of Ga. Besides the routine hydrothermal and carbonizing treatments, chitosan (CS) derivatives were further activated by potassium hydroxide, zinc chloride, and ferric trichloride to improve their respective specific surface areas. RESULTS Nitrogen adsorption analysis showed that the porous carbon activated by KOH at 800 °C (CS‐800) had the highest specific surface area (2997 m2 g−1). The maximum adsorption capacity for Ga(III) was 129.83 mg g−1, which is better than that of other well‐known carbon based adsorbents. CS‐800 also exhibited good selectivity for Ga(III) among various competitive ions, such as Zn(II), Cu(II), Ge(IV), and Al(III). In addition, the adsorbent showed good reusability; the recovery percentage of Ga(III) remained above 90% after six adsorption‐elution experiments. CONCLUSION KOH is an ideal activating agent to increase the surface area of porous carbon and 800 °C is its optimal temperature. This agent can provide sufficient active surface sites for metal ions adsorption. This work provides a strategy for the regulation of CS derived porous carbon and is expected to play a key role in real applications for the recovery of Ga. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

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Efficient separation and recovery of gallium and indium in spent CIGS materials

Cited by 24 publications

References 37 publications

A Novel Combined Technology of Rich Reactive Oxygen Species and Ultrasound for the Decapsulation of Waste Cu(InGa)Se₂ Solar Cells

A Novel Combined Technology of Rich Reactive Oxygen Species and Ultrasound for the Decapsulation of Waste Cu(InGa)Se₂ Solar Cells

A Review on the Recovery and Separation of Gallium and Indium from Waste

Chitosan derived layered porous carbon and its performance on gallium adsorption

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Efficient separation and recovery of gallium and indium in spent CIGS materials

Cited by 24 publications

References 37 publications

A Novel Combined Technology of Rich Reactive Oxygen Species and Ultrasound for the Decapsulation of Waste Cu(InGa)Se2 Solar Cells

A Novel Combined Technology of Rich Reactive Oxygen Species and Ultrasound for the Decapsulation of Waste Cu(InGa)Se2 Solar Cells

A Review on the Recovery and Separation of Gallium and Indium from Waste

Chitosan derived layered porous carbon and its performance on gallium adsorption

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Product

Resources

About

A Novel Combined Technology of Rich Reactive Oxygen Species and Ultrasound for the Decapsulation of Waste Cu(InGa)Se₂ Solar Cells

A Novel Combined Technology of Rich Reactive Oxygen Species and Ultrasound for the Decapsulation of Waste Cu(InGa)Se₂ Solar Cells