Printed circuit board recycling: Physical processing and copper extraction by selective leaching

Printed circuit board recycling: Physical processing and copper extraction by selective leaching

•Identification of recoverable metallic elements in PCBs from printers is done.•Physical and hydrometallurgical processing of PCBs was developed.•Copper concentration on studied PCBs is 32.5wt.%.•The copper extraction was higher in oxidant media rather than in sulfuric one. Global generation of wast...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Waste management (Elmsford) Vol. 46; pp. 503 - 510
Main Authors: Silvas, Flávia P.C., Jiménez Correa, Mónica M., Caldas, Marcos P.K., de Moraes, Viviane T., Espinosa, Denise C.R., Tenório, Jorge A.S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2015
Subjects:
Aluminum
Boards
CIRCUIT BOARDS
Copper
Copper - chemistry
Electronic waste
Electronic Waste - analysis
EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY
Hydrometallurgy
Leaching
MAGNETIC SEPARATION
Metallurgy
Oxidants
PRINTED CIRCUITS
RECOVERY (WASTES)
Recycling
Recycling - methods
Waste Management - instrumentation
Waste Management - methods
WEEE
Recycling
Copper
Leaching
WEEE
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Summary:•Identification of recoverable metallic elements in PCBs from printers is done.•Physical and hydrometallurgical processing of PCBs was developed.•Copper concentration on studied PCBs is 32.5wt.%.•The copper extraction was higher in oxidant media rather than in sulfuric one. Global generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is about 40 million tons per year. Constant increase in WEEE generation added to international legislations has improved the development of processes for materials recovery and sustainability of electrical and electronic industry. This paper describes a new hydrometallurgical route (leaching process) to recycle printed circuit boards (PCBs) from printers to recover copper. Methodology included PCBs characterization and a combined route of physical and hydrometallurgical processing. Magnetic separation, acid digestion and chemical analysis by ICP-OES were performed. On leaching process were used two stages: the first one in a sulfuric media and the second in an oxidant media. The results showed that the PCBs composition was 74.6wt.% of non-magnetic material and 25.4wt.% of magnetic one. The metallic fraction corresponded to 44.0wt.%, the polymeric to 28.5wt.% and the ceramic to 27.5wt.%. The main metal was copper and its initial content was 32.5wt.%. On sulfuric leaching 90wt.% of Al, 40wt.% of Zn and 8.6wt.% of Sn were extracted, whereas on oxidant leaching tests the extraction percentage of Cu was 100wt.%, of Zn 60wt.% and of Al 10wt.%. At the end of the hydrometallurgical processing was obtained 100% of copper extraction and the recovery factor was 98.46%, which corresponds to a 32kg of Cu in 100kg of PCB.
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ISSN:0956-053X
1879-2456
DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.08.030