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Characterization of Spent Printed Circuit Boards from Computers

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Characterization of Minerals, Metals, and Materials 2017

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

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Abstract

The pollution caused by the spent printed circuit boards (PCBs) is currently a concern of researchers and environmental managers due to its large quantity and exceptionally complex properties. This study characterized printed circuit boards (PCBs) from discarded computers using a number of characterization techniques , including chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), granulometric analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The PCBs contain approximately 50 wt% metals, 25 wt% glass fibers and 25 wt% polymers. The principal metals include copper , calcium, tin , aluminum, zinc and lead. They are still wrapped by brominated epoxy resin after the PCBs are preliminarily crushed. As precious metals, such as gold and silver, are barely found in the PCBs, copper and tin are the main metallic elements of recycling value which warrants extra attention.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Major Project of Gansu Province, China under Grant 1602FKDC007, the National Undergraduate Training Program for Innovation and Entrepreneurship under Grant 201510533213, the Shenghua Lieying Program of Central South University under Grant 502035001, and the Innovation-Driven Program of Central South University under Grant 2016CXS021.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, China

    Zhiwei Peng, Jiaxing Yan, Hongjin Zhang, Xiaolong Lin, Yuanbo Zhang, Guanghui Li & Tao Jiang

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Jiann-Yang Hwang

Authors
  1. Zhiwei Peng
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  2. Jiaxing Yan
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  3. Hongjin Zhang
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  4. Xiaolong Lin
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  5. Jiann-Yang Hwang
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  6. Yuanbo Zhang
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  7. Guanghui Li
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  8. Tao Jiang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guanghui Li .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Al Isra University , Amman, Jordan

    Shadia Ikhmayies

  2. Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, USA

    Bowen Li

  3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

    John S. Carpenter

  4. Canmet Materials , Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    JIan Li

  5. Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, USA

    Jiann-Yang Hwang

  6. Military Institute of Engineering, IME, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

    Sergio Neves Monteiro

  7. Poltecnico di Torino , Turin, Italy

    Donato Firrao

  8. ArcelorMittal Global R&D, East Chicago, Indiana, USA

    Mingming Zhang

  9. Central South University , Changsha, China

    Zhiwei Peng

  10. University of New South Wales , Canberra, Australia

    Juan P. Escobedo-Diaz

  11. Chongqing University , Chongqing, China

    Chenguang Bai

  12. Middle East Technical University , Ankara, Turkey

    Yunus Eren Kalay

  13. Naval Research Laboratory , Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Ramasis Goswami

  14. Korea Railroad Research Institute, Uiwang, Korea (Republic of)

    Jeongguk Kim

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© 2017 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

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Peng, Z. et al. (2017). Characterization of Spent Printed Circuit Boards from Computers. In: Ikhmayies, S., et al. Characterization of Minerals, Metals, and Materials 2017. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51382-9_55

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