title: The geochemically-analogous process of metal recovery from second-hand resources via mechanochemistry: An atom-economic case study and its implications.
abstract: In the context of recycling metal to embrace the sustainability challenge, this work proposes a geochemically-analogous process of metal recovery through mechanochemistry for the first time, to avoid the limitations of on-going methods and to establish an innovative technology philosophy. This work systematically investigates this geochemically-analogous process, to keep it green and to generalize it further. Copper recovery from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs), a typical copper-rich waste, is chosen as a case study in this work. Nearly 98% of the copper in the WPCBs can be recycled in the optimized conditions and 82.3% of the sulfur can be reused, by means of the process. Based on the experimental result, this paper purports a closed-loop route of copper recovery which follows the green chemistry principles (high yield, high atom economy and no secondary pollution). This route can be generalized into other second-hand resources that are rich in copper. Some other metals (e.g. lead) that are commonly present as corresponding sulfides in nature can be taken into consideration in this geochemically-analogous process as well.
authors: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zo215@cam.ac.uk.
authors: Zhiyuan James
authors: ZJ
authors: Ou
authors: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors: Jinhui
authors: J
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D059029:Electronic Waste; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D059027:Recycling / Q000379:methods; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry; D014866:Waste Products; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D014866:Waste Products; D013455:Sulfur; D003300:Copper
keywords: Ball milling; Geochemically-analogous process; Green chemistry; Mechanochemistry; Metal recovery; WEEE