Eco-friendly copper recovery process from waste printed circuit boards using Fe{sup 3+}/Fe{sup 2+} redox system

Journal Article · Mon Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.WASMAN.2015.02.030· OSTI ID:22472517

Fogarasi, Szabolcs ^[1]; Imre-Lucaci, Florica ^[2]; Egedy, Attila ^[3]; Imre-Lucaci, Árpád ^[1]; Ilea, Petru ^[1]

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1. Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 11 Arany Janos Street, Cluj-Napoca RO-400028 (Romania)
2. Babeş-Bolyai University, Interdisciplinary Research Institute on Bio-Nano-Sciences, 42 Treboniu Laurian Street, Cluj-Napoca RO-400271 (Romania)
3. University of Pannonia, Department of Process Engineering, Egyetem Str. 10, H-8200 Veszprém (Hungary)

Highlights: • We developed an ecofriendly mediated electrochemical process for copper recovery. • The recovery of copper was achieved without mechanical pretreatment of the samples. • We identified the optimal flow rate for the leaching and electrowinning of copper. • The copper content of the obtained cathodic deposits was over 99.9%. - Abstract: The present study aimed at developing an original and environmentally friendly process for the recovery of copper from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) by chemical dissolution with Fe{sup 3+} combined with the simultaneous electrowinning of copper and oxidant regeneration. The recovery of copper was achieved in an original set-up consisting of a three chamber electrochemical reactor (ER) connected in series with a chemical reactor (CR) equipped with a perforated rotating drum. Several experiments were performed in order to identify the optimal flow rate for the dissolution of copper in the CR and to ensure the lowest energy consumption for copper electrodeposition in the ER. The optimal hydrodynamic conditions were provided at 400 mL/min, leading to the 75% dissolution of metals and to a low specific energy consumption of 1.59 kW h/kg Cu for the electrodeposition process. In most experiments, the copper content of the obtained cathodic deposits was over 99.9%.

• OSTI ID: 22472517
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Vol. 40; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2015 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

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CHEMICAL REACTORS
COPPER
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
ELECTRODEPOSITION
ELECTROMETALLURGY
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
FLOW RATE
IRON IONS
LEACHING
MATERIALS RECOVERY
PRINTED CIRCUITS
REGENERATION
WASTES