P. Zhu

Treatment of waste printed circuit board by green solvent using ionic liquid

Recycling of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) is an important subject not only for the protection of environment but also for the recovery of valuable materials. A feasibility study was conducted to dissolve bromine epoxy resins of WPCBs using ionic liquid (IL) of 1-ethyl-3-methylimizadolium tetrafluoroborate [EMIM(+)][BF(4)(-)] (nonaqueous green solvent) for recovering copper foils and glass fibers. Experimental results indicated that the initial delamination had seen from the cross-section of the WPCBs by mean of metallographic microscope and digital camera when WPCBs were heated in [EMIM(+)][BF(4)(-)] at 240°C for a duration of 30 min. When temperature was increased to 260°C for a duration of 10 min, the bromine epoxy resins of WPCBs were throughout dissolved into [EMIM(+)][BF(4)(-)] and the separations of copper foils and glass fibers from WPCBs were completed. This clean and non-polluting technology offers a new way to recycle valuable materials from WPCBs and prevent the environmental pollution of WPCBs effectively.

The separation of waste printed circuit board by dissolving bromine epoxy resin using organic solvent.

Separation of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) has been a bottleneck in WPCBs resource processing. In this study, the separation of WPCBs was performed using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a solvent. Various parameters, which included solid to liquid ratio, temperature, WPCB sizes, and time, were studied to understand the separation of WPCBs by dissolving bromine epoxy resin using DMSO. Experimental results showed that the concentration of dissolving the bromine epoxy resin increased with increasing various parameters. The optimum condition of complete separation of WPCBs was solid to liquid ratio of 1:7 and WPCB sizes of 16 mm(2) at 145°C for 60 min. The used DMSO was vapored under the decompression, which obtained the regenerated DMSO and dissolved bromine epoxy resin. This clean and non-polluting technology offers a new way to separate valuable materials from WPCBs and prevent the environmental pollution of waste printed circuit boards effectively.

The pilot test of Pt-Pd and Pt-Rh feeds extracted and separated with a new sulfoxide extractant

Abstract Platinum, palladium and rhodium of the raw feeds extracted and separated with a new sulfoxide extractant (MSO) were studied in the paper. The pilot test results showed that the percentage extractions are more than 99% for platinum and palladium in Pt-Pd feed, and the percentage strippings are 100% and 99.2% with HCl and ammonia, respectively. The ratio of palladium to platinum is 0.0016 in stripping platinum solution, and the ratio of platinum to palladium is 0.0020 in stripping palladium solution. The percentage extraction of platinum is 99% in Pt-Rh feed, and the percentage stripping is 100%. The ratio of rhodium to platinum is 0.0002 in stripping platinum solution. Therefore, platinum, palladium, and rhodium feeds are separated effectively with MSO.

Kinetics of stripping of gold loaded in DBC organic phase by sodium sulfite

Abstract The kinetics of stripping of gold loaded in dibutyl carbito (DBC) organic phase by sodium sulfite was investigated in a Lewis cell. After the stirring speed reached 400 r·min-1, the reaction of gold stripping conformed with the pseudo-first-order reaction. The stripping rate of gold was in direct proportion to interfacial area, concentration of sodium sulfite and reaction temperature. The experimental results showed that the process of stripping gold was controlled by inter-facial chemical reaction, and its activation energy was 36.06 kJ·mol −1 . The kinetics equation was put forward for gold stripping by sodium sulfite.

Hydrometallurgical process for separation and recovery of product from serpentine waste

Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop a process to recover value product from serpentine wastes using countercurrent leaching and solvent extraction. Countercurrent leaching of serpentine waste was carried out in 31% hydrochloric acid solution at 90°C using refluxing process. After countercurrent leaching of three times, acid concentration of leaching solution decreased from 5–6 to 0·5 mol L−1 and metal ion concentrations increased double. Solid residues were separated from countercurrent leaching solution by filtering process. The filtered leaching solution was extracted by mono-(2-ethylhexyl) 2-ethylhexyl phosphonate (P507) extractant saponified by sodium bicarbonate. The impure elements of iron, aluminum, and calcium were removed from countercurrent leaching solution. Subsequently, naphthenic acid extractant saponified with sodium carbonate was used to extract nickel from above raffinate solution, and remaining element was only magnesium in raffinate solution. Filtered solid residues were leached in 20% sodium hydroxide solution, which was used to prepare white carbon black.