Enhancement of leaching copper by organic agents from waste printed circuit boards in a sulfuric acid solution

Jingfeng He; Mingming Zhang; Hao Chen; Shulian Guo; Lingtao Zhu; Jiang Xu; Kui Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135924

Enhancement of leaching copper by organic agents from waste printed circuit boards in a sulfuric acid solution

Chemosphere. 2022 Nov;307(Pt 4):135924. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135924. Epub 2022 Aug 4.

Authors

Jingfeng He¹, Mingming Zhang², Hao Chen², Shulian Guo², Lingtao Zhu², Jiang Xu², Kui Zhou²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Coal Processing and Efficient Utilization of Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China; School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China. Electronic address: jfhe@cumt.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Coal Processing and Efficient Utilization of Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China; School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China.

PMID: 35934095
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135924

Abstract

Leaching copper from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) by hydrometallurgy has always been a hot research topic. At atmospheric pressure, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was used as an oxidant to study the leaching behavior of copper from WPCBs in sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) solution with ethylene glycol (EG). To elucidate the leaching mechanism of copper from WPCBs, the effect of various parameters on the leaching performance with or without EG was investigated. The results showed that the copper leaching process from WPCBs in the presence of EG was found to conform to the ash diffusion-controlled shrinking core model according to the kinetic curve and a activation energy of 18.38 kJ/mol. Moreover, the presence of EG strengthened the stability of H₂O_2, improved dispersity and increased electrical activity of WPCBs, which enhanced the leaching of copper from WPCBs in the high leaching temperature (>323.15 K). As a result, apart from the fact that the optimal leaching concentration of H₂O₂ was reduced by the addition of EG, the improved copper leaching efficiency from WPCBs was achieved by the addition of EG, as demonstrated by a maximum copper leaching efficiency of 98.01% and a maximum loss rate of 29.68%. Besides, the mineralogical and morphological properties of leaching residue validated the leaching results. Based on this, our findings confirmed the enhanced leaching performance of copper from WPCBs by EG, which benefited for the efficient recovery of copper from WPCBs.

Keywords: Enhancement; Ethylene glycol; Hydrometallurgy; Kinetics models; Oxidation leaching; WPCBs.

MeSH terms

Copper*
Electronic Waste* / analysis
Ethylene Glycols
Hydrogen Peroxide
Oxidants
Recycling / methods
Sulfuric Acids

Substances

Ethylene Glycols
Oxidants
Sulfuric Acids
Copper
Hydrogen Peroxide
sulfuric acid