title: Recycling-oriented characterization of plastic frames and printed circuit boards from mobile phones by electronic and chemical imaging.
abstract: This study characterizes the composition of plastic frames and printed circuit boards from end-of-life mobile phones. This knowledge may help define an optimal processing strategy for using these items as potential raw materials. Correct handling of such a waste is essential for its further "sustainable" recovery, especially to maximize the extraction of base, rare and precious metals, minimizing the environmental impact of the entire process chain. A combination of electronic and chemical imaging techniques was thus examined, applied and critically evaluated in order to optimize the processing, through the identification and the topological assessment of the materials of interest and their quantitative distribution. To reach this goal, end-of-life mobile phone derived wastes have been systematically characterized adopting both "traditional" (e.g. scanning electronic microscopy combined with microanalysis and Raman spectroscopy) and innovative (e.g. hyperspectral imaging in short wave infrared field) techniques, with reference to frames and printed circuit boards. Results showed as the combination of both the approaches (i.e. traditional and classical) could dramatically improve recycling strategies set up, as well as final products recovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palmieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonifazi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: silvia.serranti@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Serranti
mesh_terms: D040421:Cell Phone; D059029:Electronic Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D011108:Polymers / Q000032:analysis*; D059027:Recycling / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D011108:Polymers
keywords: Hyperspectral imaging; Mobile phones; Plastic frames; Printed circuit board; WEEE; Waste recycling