title: A novel recovery method of copper from waste printed circuit boards by supercritical methanol process: Preparation of ultrafine copper materials.
abstract: In this study, supercritical methanol (SCM) process was successfully used for the preparation of ultrafine copper materials from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) after nitric acid pretreatment. Waste PCBs were pretreated twice in nitric acid. Sn and Pb were recovered by the first nitric acid pretreatment. The leach liquor with a high concentration of copper ions after the second nitric acid leaching was subjected to SCM process. The mixture of Cu and Cu2O with poor uniformity of particle size was formed due to the effect of ferric iron contained in the leach liquor of waste PCBs, while more uniform and spherical Cu particles with high monodispersity and smaller size could be prepared after the removal of Fe. The size of Cu particles increased obviously with the decline of SCM temperature, and particles became highly aggregated when the reaction temperature decreased to 300°C. The size of Cu particles decreased markedly with the decrease of initial concentration of copper ion in the leach liquor of waste PCBs. It is believed that the process developed in this study is simple and practical for the preparation of ultrafine copper materials from waste PCBs with the aim of recycling these waste resources as a high value-added product.
authors.affiliation: College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350108, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: xiu_chem@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Fu-Rong
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Xiu
authors.affiliation: College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350108, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huiwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350108, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350108, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Gending
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350108, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fu-Shen
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource Recycle (SWUST), Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mengjun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D059029:Electronic Waste; D007501:Iron / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D059027:Recycling / Q000379:methods*; D013696:Temperature; D014866:Waste Products
chemical_list: D014866:Waste Products; D003300:Copper; D007501:Iron; D000432:Methanol
keywords: Supercritical methanol; Ultrafine copper materials; Waste PCB