Abstract
Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) were co-pyrolyzed with iron oxides and iron salts. Solid, liquid, and gaseous products were collected and characterized. Co-pyrolysis with FeCl2, FeCl3, or FeSO4 was able to increase the yield of liquid product which was rich in phenol and its homologues. Also, the addition of co-pyrolysis reagents reduced the release of brominated organics to liquid as Br was either fixed as FeBr3 in solids or released as HBr. In particular, FeCl2 showed the best ability to reduce the release of Br-containing organics to liquid compared with FeCl3 and FeSO4. Solid residuals were rich in iron oxides, glass fibers, and charred organics with surface areas of 20.6–26.5 m2/g. CO2 together with a small amount of CH4 and H2 were detected in the gaseous products. Overall, co-pyrolysis could improve the quantity and quality of liquid oil which could be reused as chemical or energy sources. Pyrolysis of waste printed circuit board was promising as a method for recycling.
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This work was supported by Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (14ZR1428900) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (21707090).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Weifang Chen, Yongkai Shu, Yonglun Li, Yanjun Chen, and Jianbo Wei. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Weifang Chen and Yongkai Shu. All of the authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All of the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Chen, ., Shu, Y., Li, Y. et al. Co-pyrolysis of waste printed circuit boards with iron compounds for Br-fixing and material recovery. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 64642–64651 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15506-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15506-w