Supercritical extraction of polymers from printed circuit boards using CO2 and ethanol

A feasible approach for the treatment of waste computer casing plastic using subcritical to supercritical acetone: Statistical modelling and optimization

Electronic waste (e-waste) usage has increased tremendously with the rapid evolution of technologies. The accumulated e-waste has now emerged as one of the crucial concerns regarding environmental pollution and human health. Recycling e-waste is commonly focused on metal recovery; nevertheless, a significant fraction of plastics (20-30%) are in e-waste. There is an indispensable need to focus on e-waste plastic recycling in an effective way, which has been mostly overlooked to date. An environmentally safe and efficient study is conducted using subcritical to supercritical acetone (SCA) to degrade the real waste computer casing plastics (WCCP) in the central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM) to achieve the maximum oil yield of the product. The experiment parameters were varied in the temperature span of 150-300 °C, residence time between 30 and 120 min, solid/liquid ratio between 0.02 and 0.05 (g/ml), and NaOH amount from 0 to 0.5 g. Adding NaOH into the acetone helps to achieve efficient degradation and debromination efficiency. The study emphasized the attributes of oils and solid products recovered from the SCA-treated WCCP. The characterization of feed and formed products is performed with different characterization techniques such as TGA, CHNS, ICP-MS, FTIR, GC-MS, Bomb calorimeter, XRF, and FESEM. The highest oil yield achieved is 87.89% from the SCA process at 300 °C, in 120min, 0.05 S/L ratio, and 0.5 g of NaOH. GC-MS results disclose that the liquid product (oil) comprises single- and duplicate-ringed aromatic and oxygen-containing compounds. Isophorone is the significant component of the liquid product obtained. Furthermore, SCA's possible polymer degradation mechanistic route, bromine distribution, economic feasibility, and environmental aspect were also explored. This present work represents an environmentally friendly and promising approach for recycling the plastic fraction of e-waste and recovering valuable chemicals from WCCP.

Decomposition of high-impact polystyrene resin in e-waste by supercritical water oxidation process with debromination of decabromodiphenyl ethane and recovery of antimony trioxide simultaneously

In order to ensure the performance and safety of electronic products, a large number of polymeric insulation resins are used as housing materials. When electronic products are discarded as e-waste, these resins containing organobromine compounds and antimony trioxide as flame retardants are difficult to be disposed of by traditional recycling methods, due to their excellent resistance to acid, alkali, high temperature and photooxidation. It not only brings the hazardous risks for environmental protection, but also hinders the recovery of resources in e-waste. In this study, supercritical water oxidation(SCWO) process was applied to decompose waste high-impact polystyrene(HIPS) resin in e-waste combining debromination of decabromodiphenyl ethane and recovery of antimony trioxide. The results showed that HIPS could be quickly and efficiently decomposed during SCWO process. The optimum SCWO parameters were temperature of 500 ℃, holding time of 60 min, pressure of 23 MPa, and excess oxygen of 200 %, respectively. The decomposition products of HIPS were hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and water. Meanwhile, brominated flame retardants and antimony trioxide added to the HIPS were also debrominated and recovered. Without secondary pollution, the SCWO process developed in this study could effectively achieve decomposition of HIPS resins, debromination of brominated flame retardants and recovery of antimony trioxide in one procedure.

Enhanced dehalogenation and coupled recovery of complex electronic display housing plastics by sub/supercritical CO2

Electronic display housing plastics contain a high amount of halogenated compounds such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Compared with moderate critical conditions of conventional eco-friendly sub/supercritical carbon dioxide (Sc-CO₂), a novel and sustainable procedure by using improved Sc-CO₂ was developed for disposal of this type of plastic. The main merit of the process was that complex halogen-containing plastics were safely disposed and halogen-free products were recycled without using catalysts or additives. It was discovered that additive BFRs were initially extracted by Sc-CO₂ technique and then it decomposed accompanied with PVC rapidly to form HBr and HCl, which could be separated by traditional bromine stripping techniques from seawater. Based on response surface methodology (RSM), the maximum debromination and dechlorination efficiencies were achieved at 99.51% and 99.12% respectively. After the treatment, halogen-free products such as solid carbon materials and organic chemical feedstocks were obtained. Mechanism study elucidated that free radicals reaction involving chain initiation, growth and termination induced the polymer decomposition to form these products. This study provides an applicable and green approach for disposal and recovery of halogen-containing plastics.