title: A novel approach for reducing toxic emissions during high temperature processing of electronic waste.
abstract: A novel approach is presented to capture some of the potentially toxic elements (PTEs), other particulates and emissions during the heat treatment of e-waste using alumina adsorbents. Waste PCBs from mobile phones were mechanically crushed to sizes less than 1mm; their thermal degradation was investigated using thermo-gravimetric analysis. Observed weight loss was attributed to the degradation of polymers and the vaporization of organic constituents and volatile metals. The sample assembly containing PCB powder and adsorbent was heat treated at 600°C for times ranging between 10 and 30min with air, nitrogen and argon as carrier gases. Weight gains up to ∼17% were recorded in the adsorbent thereby indicating the capture of significant amounts of particulates. The highest level of adsorption was observed in N2atmosphere for small particle sizes of alumina. SEM/EDS results on the adsorbent indicated the presence of Cu, Pb, Si, Mg and C. These studies were supplemented with ICP-OES analysis to determine the extent of various species captured as a function of operating parameters. This innovative, low-cost approach has the potential for utilization in the informal sector and/or developing countries, and could play a significant role in reducing toxic emissions from e-waste processing towards environmentally safe limits.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence: Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India; Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT), School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT), School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Electronic address: ritakhanna@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khanna
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence: Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India; Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT), School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cayumil
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT), School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikram-Ul-Haq
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence: Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Agarwala
authors.affiliation: Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR), Bhubaneswar 751013, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ellamparuthy
authors.affiliation: Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR), Bhubaneswar 751013, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jayasankar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR), Bhubaneswar 751013, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT), School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sahajwalla
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001272:Atmosphere; D059029:Electronic Waste; D006358:Hot Temperature; D017745:Incineration; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Adsorbent; E-waste; Particulates; Potentially toxic emissions