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Copper recovery from waste printed circuit boards concentrated metal scraps by electrolysis

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Abstract

Copper recovery is the core of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) treatment. In this study, we proposed a feasible and efficient way to recover copper from WPCBs concentrated metal scraps by direct electrolysis and factors that affect copper recovery rate and purity, mainly CuSO4·5H2O concentration, NaCl concentration, H2SO4 concentration and current density, were discussed in detail. The results indicated that copper recovery rate increased first with the increase of CuSO4·5H2O, NaCl, H2SO4 and current density and then decreased with further increasing these conditions. NaCl, H2SO4 and current density also showed a similar impact on copper purity, which also increased first and then decreased. Copper purity increased with the increase of CuSO4·5H2O. When the concentration of CuSO4·5H2O, NaCl and H2SO4 was respectively 90, 40 and 118 g/L and current density was 80 mA/cm2, copper recovery rate and purity was up to 97.32% and 99.86%, respectively. Thus, electrolysis proposes a feasible and prospective approach for waste printed circuit boards recycle, even for e-waste, though more researches are needed for industrial application.

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Acknowledgments

This work supported by funds from the Open Project of State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for Nonmetal Composites and Functional Materials (Nos. 11zxfk26 and 13zxfk11), Scientific Research Fund of Mianyang City (No. 14S-01-2), and Fundamental Science on Nuclear Wastes and Environmental Safety Laboratory (No. 15kffk05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for Nonmetal Composites and Functional Materials, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China

    Xiaonan Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource Recycle, Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China

    Qiuxia Tan, Yungui Li, Zhonghui Xu & Mengjun Chen

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  1. Xiaonan Liu
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  2. Qiuxia Tan
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  3. Yungui Li
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  4. Zhonghui Xu
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  5. Mengjun Chen
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Correspondence to Mengjun Chen.

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Liu, X., Tan, Q., Li, Y. et al. Copper recovery from waste printed circuit boards concentrated metal scraps by electrolysis. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 11, 10 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-017-0997-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-017-0997-4

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