Supercritical CO2 extraction of indium present in liquid crystal displays from discarded cell phones using organic acids

Selective leaching of indium from spent LCD screens by siderophore desferrioxamine E

Given the criticality of indium (In) in high-tech applications, spent LCD screens can represent a viable secondary In resource. In this work, an innovative and alternative technology to selectively leach In from spent LCD screens using a microbial chelating agent, desferrioxamine E (DFOE), was developed. Indium was concentrated from spent LCD screens by implementing an adapted pre-treatment procedure, allowing the isolation of an indium-rich glassy fraction. During leaching, the competition between aluminum (Al) and In for complexation with DFOE leads to the precipitation of In(OH)3 at low DFOE concentrations (12-240 µM). After adjusting the optimal conditions (fraction size: 0-36 μM, pH: 5.5, S/L ratio: 1 g/L, 25 °C), the In leaching yield reached 32%, ten times higher than Al over 90 days with 5 mM DFOE. Thus, achieving high In recovery is possible through i) prolonging leaching durations, ii) selective leaching, and iii) minimizing Al interference. This is the first attempt to selectively leach In using a selected siderophore from end-of-life products with high concentrations of non-targeted elements (i.e. Al, Si, and Ca). This study demonstrates the potential of generating indium-rich leachates, which can be subsequently processed through the GaLIophore technology for In refining.

A hybrid thermal-biological recycling route for efficient extraction of metals and metalloids from end-of-life liquid crystal displays (LCDs)

Waste liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are one of the most substantial and rapidly growing e-waste streams that contain a notable amount of critical, precious, and toxic elements. This study presented a novel thermal-biological hybrid method for resource recovery from waste LCDs. Through the design of a multistage thermal treatment process with the addition of optimized 20 wt% B2O3 to waste, the LCD's glass structure was separated into two interconnected phases, resulting in the transfer of metals from the LCD's glass phase to the B2O3 phase that can solubilize in the acid solution. Following the thermal treatment step, the biometabolites of Aspergillus niger were used for bioleaching of In, Sr, Al, and As from the obtained thermally treated product. The optimal bioleaching parameters were a pulp density of 10 g/L, temperature of 70 °C, and leaching time of 2 days, which led to the highest extraction of 82.6% Al, 70.8% As, 64.5% In, and 36.2% Sr from thermally treated LCD waste, representing a multifold increase in Al, As, and Sr extraction levels compared to untreated waste. This study demonstrated that the proposed hybrid method could successfully overcome waste complexities and ensure effective element extraction from discarded LCDs.

Recovery technologies for indium, gallium, and germanium from end-of-life products (electronic waste) - A review

Advanced high-tech applications for communication, renewable energy, and display, heavily rely on technology critical elements (TCEs) such as indium, gallium, and germanium. Ensuring their sustainable supply is a pressing concern due to their high economic value and supply risks in the European Union. Recovering these elements from end-of-life (EoL) products (electronic waste: e-waste) offers a potential solution to address TCEs shortages. The review highlights recent advances in pre-treatment and hydrometallurgical and biohydrometallurgical methods for indium, gallium, and germanium recovery from EoL products, including spent liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), photovoltaics (PVs), and optical fibers (OFs). Leaching methods, including strong mineral and organic acids, and bioleaching, achieve over 95% indium recovery from spent LCDs. Recovery methods emphasize solvent extraction, chemical precipitation, and cementation. However, challenges persist in separating indium from other non-target elements like Al, Fe, Zn, and Sn. Promising purification involves solid-phase extraction, electrochemical separation, and supercritical fluid extraction. Gallium recovery from spent GaN and GaAs LEDs achieves 99% yield via leaching with HCl after annealing and HNO3, respectively. Sustainable gallium purification techniques include solvent extraction, ionic liquid extraction, and nanofiltration. Indium and gallium recovery from spent CIGS PVs achieves over 90% extraction yields via H2SO4 with citric acid-H2O2 and alkali. Although bioleaching is slower than chemical leaching (several days versus several hours), indirect bioleaching shows potential, achieving 70% gallium extraction yield. Solvent extraction and electrolysis exhibit promise for pure gallium recovery. HF or alkali roasting leaches germanium with a high yield of 98% from spent OFs. Solvent extraction achieves over 90% germanium recovery with minimal silicon co-extraction. Solid-phase extraction offers selective germanium recovery. Advancements in optimizing and implementing these e-waste recovery protocols will enhance the circularity of these TCEs.

Composition and recycling of smartphones: A mini-review on gaps and opportunities

After more than a decade since smartphones became consolidated in the market, many recycling solutions have been proposed to deal with them. To continue developing useful solutions and enable adjustment of routes, this mini-review aims to analyse the current research scenario, presenting relevant gaps, trends and opportunities. From a structured searching and screening procedure, a vast source of data was arranged and is available to extract useful information (43 studies on composition and 93 studies on recycling). The study provides discussions about the history of smartphone development, constituent materials and recycling methods for different components, comparisons between feature phones and smartphones and others. Among some conclusions, the authors highlight the lack of studies on pre-extractive methods, green chemistry, recovery of critical and precious metals, determination of priority materials for recovery and solutions for entire devices. In the end, a list containing six research gaps for composition studies and seven research gaps for recycling studies is provided and may be seen as opportunities for future research.

Release Behavior of Liquid Crystal Monomers from Waste Smartphone Screens: Occurrence, Distribution, and Mechanistic Modeling

Liquid crystal display (LCD) screens can release many organic pollutants into the indoor environment, including liquid crystal monomers (LCMs), which have been proposed as a novel class of emerging pollutants. Knowing the release pathways and mechanisms of LCMs from various components of LCD screens is important to accurately assess the LCM release and reveal their environmental transport behavior and fate in the ambient environment. A total of 47, 43, and 33 out of 64 target LCMs were detected in three disassembled parts of waste smartphone screens, including the LCM layer (LL), light guide plate (LGP), and screen protector (SP), respectively. Correlation analysis confirmed LL was the source of LCMs detected in LGP and SP. The emission factors of LCMs from waste screen, SP, and LGP parts were estimated as 2.38 × 10^-3, 1.36 × 10^-3, and 1.02 × 10^-3, respectively. A mechanism model was developed to describe the release behaviors of LCMs from waste screens, where three characteristics parameters of released LCMs, including average mass proportion (AP), predicted subcooled vapor pressures (P_L), and octanol-air partitioning coefficients (K_oa), involving coexistence of absorption and adsorption mechanisms, could control the diffusion-partitioning. The released LCMs in LGP could reach diffusion-partition equilibrium more quickly than those in SP, indicating that LCM release could be mainly governed through SP diffusions.

The Use of PCB Scrap in the Reduction in Metallurgical Copper Slags

The article presents the results of a study on metallurgical sludge reduction using electronic waste such as Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). Two aspects were taken into account when selecting such a reducer, namely the environmental aspect and the technological aspect. The research was an attempt to use waste metal-bearing material of which the effective management causes many problems from an environmental point of view. In the technological aspect, the specific chemical composition of this waste was taken into account. Its gasification yields significant amounts of hydrocarbons, which are excellent reducing agents in such process. The separation of these compounds may additionally cause the mixing of the molten slag, which should result in faster separation of the formed metal droplets and the molten slag. In the case of the fragmented PCB (Printed Circuit Board) reducer used in this study, a significant degree of copper removal was achieved, as much as 92%. As the reduction-process time increased, the degree of copper removal also increased. For the 1 h process, the average value of copper removal was 60%, and for the 4.5 h process it was over 70%. The case was the same with the addition of reductant: as the amount of reductant added to the process increased, an increase in copper removal was observed. With the addition of 30 g of the reducing agent (per 65 g of slag), the degree of copper removal was over 90%.

Adsorption of Indium(III) Ions from an Acidic Solution by Using UiO-66

Considering environmental friendliness and economic factors, the separation and extraction of indium under acidic conditions are of great significance. In this research, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) of UiO-66 were successfully prepared and used for the separation and adsorption of indium. The properties of UiO-66 were structurally characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analyzer (BET), thermogravimetric analysers (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The results show that UiO-66 can resist acid and keep its structure unchanged, even at a strong acidity of pH 1. The adsorption performance of UiO-66 to indium (III) was also evaluated. The results show that the adsorption process of indium ions was by the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 11.75 mg·g−1 being recorded. The adsorption kinetics experiment preferably fits the second-order kinetic model. A possible mechanism for the adsorption of In(III) by UiO-66 was explored through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared analysis(FT-IR). It was concluded that the C=O of free –COOH of UiO-66 was involved in the adsorption of In(III) by cation exchange. This study indicates, for the first time, that UiO-66 can be applied as an acid-resistant adsorbent to recover indium (III).

Leaching of indium and tin from waste LCD by a time-efficient method assisted planetary high energy ball milling

The phenomenon of the long leaching time and low leaching rate is presented in the acid leaching process under the conventional conditions of low reaction temperature and acid concentration. In order to promote leaching rates of indium and tin in waste liquid crystal display, an optimized process combining rapid milling and acid leaching has been proposed, which is more time and energy-efficient, environmentally sound compared with the traditional acid leaching process. Leaching mechanism analysis was conducted to uncover the different leaching behavior of indium and tin. And the external factors affecting the leaching rates of indium and tin were studied to optimize. In this process, the fine powder with a weight ratio of 97.6%, which particle size less than 0.075 mm, was obtained with the optimal milling time of 30 min by rapid grinding in the planetary high energy ball milling. About -0.003 l/s of grinding rate constant was performed in the grinding size fraction from 3 mm to 0.075 mm. The research results indicated that the particle size less than 0.035 mm was agglomerated, and the addition of H₂O₂ reduced the leaching rate for the particle size less than 0.075 mm. Moreover, 86.3% and 76.1% of indium and tin were leached in a short leaching time of 10 min by using 3 M H₂SO₄ at 85 °C for particle size range from 0.075 to 0.035 mm, while 96.9% and 85.6%, respectively in 90 min.

Analysis of indium (III) adsorption from leachates of LCD screens using artificial neural networks (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANIFS)

Ten different adsorbent materials were tested to adsorb indium (III) from leachates of LCD screens, aiming to concentrate this valuable material. Artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANIFS) were applied to analyze the indium (III) adsorption. The input variables for the network models were: specific surface area, point of zero charge, adsorbent dosage and contact time. Adsorption capacity (q) was used as output variable. The adsorption capacity values ranged from 8.203 to 1000 mg g^-1. The ANN modeling presented the best fit when the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm was used. The ANFIS modeling presented the optimum performance when the hybrid method was used. Among the tested adsorbents, chitosan presented the best performance; attaining adsorption capacity of 1000 mg g^-1 within 20 min. This is an excellent value since the maximum indium concentration in LCD screens is 0.613 mg g^-1. This high capacity was attributed to the coordination ligation between chitosan and indium (III).

Electronic wastes

E-waste amount is growing at about 4% annually, and has become the fastest growing waste stream in the industrialized world. Over 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally each year, and some of them end up in landfills causing danger of toxic chemicals leakage over time. E-waste is also sent to developing countries where informal processing of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) causes serious health and pollution problems. A huge interest in recovery of valuable metals from WEEE is clearly visible in a great number of scientific, popular scientific publications or government and industrial reports.