Recovery of valuable and toxic metals from crystalline-Si modules

Valuable metal recycling from thin film CIGS solar cells by leaching under mild conditions

“…Also, SnO 2 dissolution in nitric acid can be challenging, as shown from the positive values of the ΔG of all the possible reactions of it with nitric acid (Table S2 Eqs. [47][48][49][50][51] and from the literature [44]. Another important observation is that the yield of In is always close to 20-25% for the first hour of leaching, with no other element from the CIGS layer being leached at this stage, implying that a constant amount of In should have been leached first from a layer(s) above CIGS.…”

“…Some means to up-concentrating, for example by a reuse of the same leachate for multiple cells, should be considered for industrialization. A few examples of elements that could be recovered from the leachate after the achievement of the desired concentration, is In, Ga and Cu by means of solvent extraction [23], Ag by electrowinning [47], Mo and W possibly by precipitation due to their tendency to form oxides with limited solubility (see 3.1) etc.…”

Recycling c-Si PV Modules: A Review, a Proposed Energy Model and a Manufacturing Comparison

“…In this section, recycling processes using mainly a chemical approach are considered. In [38], a simulated leach solution was used for the experiment. An aqueous solution of nitric acid (HNO 3 ) was prepared to dissolve Ag, Pb, Sn, and Cu pellets.…”

Electrochemical Recycling of Photovoltaic Modules to Recover Metals and Silicon Wafers

“…More advanced procedures utilize more careful techniques for the separation of the individual layers with organic solvents 7–9 or thermal methods 10–12. Moreover, copper and silver can be recovered by hydrometallurgic processes, mainly with nitric acid 10, 13, 14. If all metal impurities are removed successfully, solar grade Si can be obtained, which has a much higher value compared to metallurgical grade Si and additionally reduces the environmental impact of PV production.…”