Abstract
Recycling scrap printed circuit boards for recovery of valuable metal resources is a major environmental issue. Most available disposal technologies are not environmentally safe. Here, printed circuit board particles were subjected to solvothermal treatment using poly(ethylene glycol)/sodium hydroxide. Results show that residual ratio of bromine varied with temperature, treating time and sodium hydroxide addition. The optimal temperature, treating time and sodium hydroxide addition were 180 °C, 10 h and 0.4 g, with the lowest residual bromine ratio of 1.7%. After treatment, the separation of residue was done by gravity separation and the purity of copper in the recovered metallic components was 97.8%. The recyclability of scrap printed circuit boards before crushing was also compared, the residue of which yielded a complete separation of copper foils and glass fibers. The purity of copper in the foil was achieved at 96.6%. We conclude that this novel process represents an applicable way to recycle high value resources from scrap printed circuit boards.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21507151), the Open Fund of Shanghai Cooperative Center for WEEE Recycling (B50ZS120003), the National Water Pollution Control and Management Program (2012ZX07202-005) and the Science Promotion Program of Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, CAS (YSW2013B05).
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Zhang, CC., Zhang, FS. High copper recovery from scrap printed circuit boards using poly(ethylene glycol)/sodium hydroxide treatment. Environ Chem Lett 16, 311–317 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-017-0676-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-017-0676-5