Electrochemical Recycling of Photovoltaic Modules to Recover Metals and Silicon Wafers

Modrzynski, Christian; Blaesing, Luisa; Hippmann, Sebastian; Bertau, Martin; Bloh, Jonathan Z.; Weidlich, Claudia

doi:10.1002/cite.202100105

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…This indicates that the issue of contamination with silver was resolved once the silver had been removed from the Si wafers during the pretreatment stage. 8 The detailed analysis of the alloy compositions using EDS confirms the successful separation of Ag for both starting materials used (Table 2 and Table 3). The combination of pretreated Si wafer and BF stands out here since now only Fe−Si phases are present, which, as already described, increase in Si content with increasing Si wafer input.…”

Section: Microstructural Investigation Of the Alloys Producedmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…It was observed that the microstructure analyses of the alloys, as shown in Figure , no longer showed bright small contrasts. This indicates that the issue of contamination with silver was resolved once the silver had been removed from the Si wafers during the pretreatment stage …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The initial assumption, however, that silver and the Fe–Si alloys coalesce and can subsequently be separated easily from each other has not been confirmed. Instead, it is inevitable to remove Ag in a pretreatment step …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8 Various recycling processes have been developed for PV systems, including layer-by-layer module separation and electrochemical extraction of metals from the solar wafer. 8 The initial step in recycling involves module delamination, which can be accomplished through various methods, including thermal, mechanical, and chemical processes. However, mechanical separation renders the modules unusable, despite being a relatively cost-effective and eco-friendly option.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ferrosilicon Production from Silicon Wafer Breakage and Red Mud

Blaesing,

Walnsch,

Hippmann

et al. 2024

ACS Sustainable Resour. Manage.

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The increasing importance of recycling end-of-life photovoltaic modules is demonstrated by the rising quantity of discarded crystalline silicon solar cells that contain valuable metals. Despite advanced recycling methods, the surplus of broken Si wafers poses challenges for reintegration into new module manufacturing. The present study introduces a novel recycling process that addresses this issue and promotes sustainable waste processing, focusing on the untapped resources of Si wafer breakage and environmentally harmful red mud. The proposed method uses these two critical waste materials to enable a silicothermal reduction, yielding ferrosilicon-based alloys.To comprehensively analyze the influence of the iron oxide source on alloy composition, a readily available iron oxide pigment (Bayferrox 110) is implemented as a reference material. Fe−Si-based alloys containing 15 to 65 wt % Si are produced by the silicothermal reduction with soda ash as a flux, at a temperature of 1600 °C. The use of Bayferrox as an iron oxide source facilitates the production of Fe−Si alloys that are free from additional impurities. Moreover, the use of red mud as the source of iron oxide leads to the production of Fe−Si−Ti alloys, containing up to 8.6 wt % of Ti. The inclusion of Ti in the ferrosilicon-based alloy elevates the market value of the resulting products, emphasizing the commercial viability of the suggested recycling process. By simultaneously utilizing two critical waste materials, namely, red mud and Si wafer breakage, this novel recycling strategy demonstrates significant potential, especially in view of a circular and holistic waste management.

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Section: Microstructural Investigation Of the Alloys Producedmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Ferrosilicon Production from Silicon Wafer Breakage and Red Mud

Blaesing,

Walnsch,

Hippmann

et al. 2024

ACS Sustainable Resour. Manage.

Self Cite

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“…In such a process, a leaching reagent is generated or continuously regenerated at an electrode that is placed in a solution containing the metal-containing compounds that are to be dissolved. Several applications have been described recently, e.g., for batteries, [1][2][3][4] electronic waste 5 and photovoltaic (PV) systems 6 as discussed here.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetic Investigations of the Electrochemically Assisted Leaching of Metals for the Recycling of Photovoltaics

Modrzynski

Weidlich

Bloh

2022

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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To describe and predict the leaching of Ag, Cu, and Sn from waste, photovoltaic modules with an electrochemical-assisted process kinetic investigations were performed. In this process, peroxydisulfate is generated from sulfuric acid to oxidize metals. It was found that under the reaction conditions peroxymonosulfate is formed as well and has a major contribution to the leaching process. For Ag, autocatalytic decomposition of the leaching reagents is determined to be a limiting step while for Sn passivation influences the process. The leaching is modeled for three different reaction types, a batch reaction, the reaction in a static H-cell with continuous generation of S₂O₈²⁻, and a fed-batch reaction with an electrochemical flow cell for the production of peroxydisulfate.

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A Review of End‐of‐Life Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Modules and the Potential for Electrochemical Recycling

Lee,

Duffy,

Allen

2024

Adv Energy and Sustain Res

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The mass deployment of solar energy technology has been inspired by sustainable energy objectives. However, end‐of‐life solar photovoltaic modules present the growing dilemma of solar waste management. A circular economy approach should therefore be applied to the solar industry due to the valuable materials contained within modules, and their upfront emissions and energy intensity. Solar module recycling has to date been delineated into three phases: disassembly, delamination, and extraction. Disassembly has been commercially established; delamination has experienced some progression with further development required to liberate the valuable solar cell material, while extraction has had more limited exploration, predominantly through a hydrometallurgical lens. Extraction via electrochemical methods, however, has received some recent attention in the literature with promising outcomes for both metal extraction and process electrification. Electrochemical approaches offer new methods for more advanced processing options. For example, high‐temperature molten salt electrorefining has been investigated for metallurgical‐grade silicon and could prove to be an effective process for recovering silicon. This review provides an overview of solar module recovery methods, with focus on novel and emerging electrochemical approaches including the applicability of electrorefining to upgrade recovered silicon from photovoltaic waste.

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Electrochemical Recycling of Photovoltaic Modules to Recover Metals and Silicon Wafers

Cited by 15 publications

References 29 publications

Ferrosilicon Production from Silicon Wafer Breakage and Red Mud

Ferrosilicon Production from Silicon Wafer Breakage and Red Mud

Kinetic Investigations of the Electrochemically Assisted Leaching of Metals for the Recycling of Photovoltaics

A Review of End‐of‐Life Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Modules and the Potential for Electrochemical Recycling

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