Recycling of high purity selenium from CIGS solar cell waste materials
Highlights: • A new method for recycling of selenium from CIGS solar cell materials is presented. • Separation of selenium as selenium dioxide after heating in oxygen atmosphere. • Complete selenium separation after oxidation of <63 μm particles at 800 °C for 1 h. • After reduction of selenium dioxide the selenium purity was higher than 99.999 wt%. - Abstract: Copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) is a promising material in thin film solar cell production. To make CIGS solar cells more competitive, both economically and environmentally, in comparison to other energy sources, methods for recycling are needed. In addition to the generally high price of the material, significant amounts of the metals are lost in the manufacturing process. The feasibility of recycling selenium from CIGS through oxidation at elevated temperatures was therefore examined. During oxidation gaseous selenium dioxide was formed and could be separated from the other elements, which remained in solid state. Upon cooling, the selenium dioxide sublimes and can be collected as crystals. After oxidation for 1 h at 800 °C all of the selenium was separated from the CIGS material. Two different reduction methods for reduction of the selenium dioxide to selenium were tested. In the first reduction method an organic molecule was used as the reducing agent in a Riley reaction. In the second reduction method sulphur dioxide gas was used. Both methods resulted in high purity selenium. This proves that the studied selenium separation method could be the first step in a recycling process aimed at the complete separation and recovery of high purity elements from CIGS.
- OSTI ID:
- 22436801
- Journal Information:
- Waste Management, Vol. 34, Issue 10; Conference: CRETE 2012: 3. international conference on industrial and hazardous waste management, Chania (Greece), 12-14 Sep 2012; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0956-053X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
COPPER
CRYSTALS
GALLIUM SELENIDES
INDIUM SELENIDES
MATERIALS RECOVERY
OXIDATION
OXYGEN
PRICES
RECYCLING
REDUCING AGENTS
SELENIUM
SOLAR CELLS
SULFUR DIOXIDE
THIN FILMS
WASTES