Gold recovery from printed circuit boards of mobile phones scraps using a leaching solution alternative to cyanide

Currently, the printed circuit boards (PCB) of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are attracting interest among researchers for environmental concern reasons and mainly for their content of precious metals such as gold. Thus, this study aims to characterize different types of PCBs from mobile phones in relation to the amount of gold contained, to evaluate alternative leaching agents for the gold (ammonium and sodium thiosulfate) and compare these to commercial stripping (cyanide-based) and then the recovery of gold by the electrometallurgical route. First, the amount of gold was determined. Then, alternative leaching agents were tested under different concentrations and time. A cyanide-based solution was also tested to compare the results. The results showed that the content of gold varied from 142 to 700 g/ton. The cyanide-based solution was able to extract 88% of the gold, while sodium and ammonium thiosulfate extracted 70 and 75% of the gold, respectively. The electrowinning tests showed a 94% recovery of the gold present in thiosulfate solutions

UTILIZAÇÃO DE TÉCNICAS HIDROMETALÚRGICAS E ELETROMETALÚRGICAS NA RECUPERAÇÃO DE OURO PROVENIENTE DE SUCATAS DE TELEFONES CELULARES

[EN] The precious metals natural sources, including gold, have decreased around the world each year. At the same time, the demand for these metals have increased, especially for the use in the electrical and electronics products industry. The recovery of metals from these scraps could be one way to mitigate this problem, since consumption and disposal have considerably increased every year. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate alternative leaching agents for the gold extraction present in the printed circuit boards (PCB's) of cell phones, and subsequent recovery by electrometallurgical process. Entire PCB's obtained from obsolete or defective cell phones were used. Thus, a commercial stripping (cyanide-based) and alternative leaching agents (sodium and ammonium thiosulfate) were tested under different conditions of concentration, time, pH and temperature. The solutions were analyzed by atomic absorption. The amount of gold contained in the PCB's was measured, by a preliminary test, in which, samples were leached with aqua regia for a complete extraction of the metal and further comparison with the commercial stripping and alternative leaching agents. The electrometallurgical stage began with the cyclic voltammetry experiments to determine the gold and copper electrowinning potential. After that, electrowinning tests using different electrode potentials to determine the recovery rates of these metals were performed. The results obtained in the leaching tests show that with the commercial stripping, it was possible to extract 88% of the gold present in the PCB of cell phones. With sodium thiosulfate, it was possible to extract 70% of the gold contained in the PCB, using 0.12M of sodium thiosulfate, 0.2M of ammonium and 20mM of copper sulphate. With ammonium thiosulfate, it was possible to extract 75% of the gold, using 0.12M of ammonium thiosulfate, 0.2M of ammonium and 20mM of copper sulfate. Regarding the recovery of metals in solution, the results of cyclic voltammetry showed that the copper deposition occurs at potentials more negative than -600 mVAg/AgCl, while the gold deposition can be performed to more positive potential than -600mVAg/AgCl, showing that both metals can be selectively recovered. The results of the electrowinning tests proved that in the synthetic solution the recovered fractions reached 0.98 for gold and 0.99 for copper, using the electrode potentials of -500 mVAg/AgCl and -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectively. The electrical efficiency in this case was below 6% for all tested potential. The electrochemical behavior observed for real solutions was very similar to that one observed for synthetic solutions, but with lower values. In that case, the gold recovered fraction reached 0.94, while the copper recovered fraction reached 0.95 using the same potentials. The current efficiency achieved in the experiments, with real solutions, was less than 3%.[ES] Cada año las reservas naturales de metales preciosos, entre ellos el oro, van disminuyendo en todo el mundo. Paralelamente, la demanda de estos metales va en aumento, especialmente para su utilización en la industria de productos eléctricos y electrónicos. Una forma de atenuar este problema podría ser la recuperación de los metales contenidos en las chatarras de estos productos, cuyo consumo y desechos aumentan considerablemente cada año. Por tanto, este trabajo tiene por objetivo evaluar agentes lixiviantes alternativos para la extracción del oro contenido en las placas de circuito impreso (PCI) de teléfonos móviles y su posterior recuperación por vía electrometalúrgica. Se utilizaron PCI's enteras obtenidas de aparatos de teléfonos móviles obsoletos o defectuosos. En los ensayos de lixiviación se probaron, además de un agente extractor comercial (a base de cianuro), los agentes lixiviantes alternativos tiosulfato sódico y tiosulfato amónico en medio amoniacal, a distintas concentraciones, pH, tiempos y temperaturas. Las disoluciones obtenidas se analizaron por absorción atómica. La cantidad de oro contenido en las placas se midió a través de un ensayo previo donde las muestras fueron lixiviadas con agua regia para una extracción completa del metal y la posterior comparación con el agente extractor comercial y los lixiviantes alternativos. La etapa electrometalúrgica se inició con los ensayos de voltametría cíclica para determinar los potenciales de electrodeposición de oro y de cobre y a continuación se realizaron ensayos de eletrodeposición utilizando diferentes potenciales de electrodo para determinar las velocidades de recuperación de estos metales. Los resultados obtenidos en los ensayos de lixiviación muestran que el agente extractor comercial fue capaz de extraer el 88% del oro contenido en las PCI de los teléfonos móviles. Con la utilización de tiosulfato sódico fue posible extraer el 70% del oro contenido en las PCI's, utilizando disoluciones de composición 0,12M de tiosulfato sódico, 0,2M de amoniaco y 20mM de sulfato de cobre. Con tiosulfato amónico, fue posible extraer el 75% del oro, utilizando disoluciones de composición 0,12M de tiosulfato amónico, 0,2M de amoniaco y 20mM de sulfato de cobre. Con respecto a la recuperación de los metales en disolución, los resultados obtenidos en los ensayos de voltametría cíclica mostraron que la deposición de cobre tiene lugar a potenciales más negativos de -600 mVAg/AgCl mientras que la deposición de oro se puede efectuar a potenciales más positivos que -600 mVAg/AgCl, demostrando que los dos metales pueden ser recuperados selectivamente. Los resultados de los ensayos de electrodeposición mostraron que, para disoluciones sintéticas, las fracciones recuperadas llegaron a 0.98 para oro y 0.99 para cobre, utilizando -500 mVAg/AgCl y -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectivamente. El rendimiento eléctrico, en este caso, fue inferior al 6% para todos los potenciales ensayados. El comportamiento electroquímico observado para las disoluciones reales fue muy parecido al observado para las disoluciones sintéticas, pero con valores más bajos, en este caso la fracción de oro recuperada llegó al 0.94, mientras que la fracción de cobre recuperada alcanzó el 0.95, utilizando los mismos potenciales. El rendimiento eléctrico alcanzado en los experimentos con disoluciones reales fue inferior al 3%.[CA] Cada any les reserves naturals de metalls preciosos, entre ells l'or, van disminuint en tot el món. Paral¿lelament, la demanda d'estos metalls va en augment, especialment per a la seua utilització en la indústria de productes elèctrics i electrònics. Una forma d'atenuar aquest problema podria ser la recuperació dels metalls continguts en les ferralles d'aquestos productes, el consum i rebutjos dels quals augmenten considerablement cada any. Per tant, aquest treball té per objectiu avaluar agents lixiviants alternatius per a l'extracció de l'or contingut en les plaques de circuit imprés (PCI) de telèfons mòbils i la seua posterior recuperació per via electrometal¿lúrgica. Es van utilitzar PCI's senceres obtingudes d'aparells de telèfons mòbils obsolets o defectuosos. En els assajos de lixiviació es van provar, a més d'un agent extractor comercial (a base de cianur) , els agents lixiviants alternatius tiosulfat sòdic i tiosulfat d'amoni al medi amoniacal, a distintes concentracions, pH, temps i temperatures. Les dissolucions obtingudes es van analitzar per absorció atòmica. La quantitat d'or contingut en les plaques es va mesurar a través d'un assaig previ on les mostres van ser lixiviades amb aigua règia per a una extracció completa del metall i la posterior comparació amb l'agent extractor comercial i els lixiviants alternatius. L'etapa electrometal¿lúrgica es va iniciar amb els assajos de voltametria cíclica per a determinar els potencials d'electrodeposició d'or i de coure i a continuació es van realitzar assajos d'eletrodeposició utilitzant diferents potencials d'elèctrode per a determinar les velocitats de recuperació d'aquests metalls. Els resultats obtinguts en els assajos de lixiviació mostren que l'agent extractor comercial va ser capaç d'extraure el 88% de l'or contingut en les PCI dels telèfons mòbils. Amb la utilització de tiosulfat sòdic va ser possible extraure el 70% de l'or contingut en les PCI's, utilitzant dissolucions de composició 0,12M de tiosulfat sòdic, 0,2M d'amoníac i 20mM de sulfat de coure. Amb tiosulfat d'amoni, va ser possible extraure el 75% de l'or, utilitzant dissolucions de composició 0,12M de tiosulfat d'amoni, 0,2M d'amoníac i 20mM de sulfat de coure. Respecte a la recuperació dels metalls en dissolució, els resultats obtinguts en els assajos de voltametria cíclica van mostrar que la deposició de coure té lloc a potencials més negatius de -600 mVAg/AgCl mentre que la deposició d'or es pot efectuar a potencials més positius que -600 mVAg/AgCl, demostrant que els dos metalls poden ser recuperats selectivament. Els resultats dels assajos d'electrodeposició van mostrar que, per a dissolucions sintètiques, les fraccions recuperades van arribar a 0.98 per a or i 0.99 per a coure, utilitzant -500 mVAg/AgCl i -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectivament. El rendiment elèctric, en aquest cas, va ser inferior al 6% per a tots els potencials assajats. El comportament electroquímic observat per a les dissolucions reals va ser molt paregut a l'observat per a les dissolucions sintètiques, però amb valors més baixos, en aquest cas la fracció d'or recuperada va arribar al 0.94, mentre que la fracció de coure recuperada va aconseguir el 0.95, utilitzant els mateixos potencials. El rendiment elèctric aconseguit en els experiments amb dissolucions reals va ser inferior al 3%.Kasper, AC. (2016). UTILIZAÇÃO DE TÉCNICAS HIDROMETALÚRGICAS E ELETROMETALÚRGICAS NA RECUPERAÇÃO DE OURO PROVENIENTE DE SUCATAS DE TELEFONES CELULARES [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/64552TESI

Recovery of rare earth elements present in mobile phone magnets with the use of organic acids

Currently, the recovery of materials from secondary sources is increasingly necessary because of the scarcity of materials. Significant amounts of rare earth elements (REE) are found in permanent neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, used in various electrical and electronic equipments, such as mobile phones. However, the estimated recycling rate for REEs is only 1%. Hydrometallurgical routes are the most commonly used for REE recovery from secondary sources. This route usually uses inorganic acids, which are expensive and toxic. Thus, in this work the leaching efficiency of organic acids (acetic and citric) in leaching the REE (neodymium and praseodymium) present in magnets of obsolete or defective mobile phones was evaluated. Different concentrations of acids, solid/liquid relations, times and leaching techniques (microwave, ultrasound and conventional) are also evaluated. The results indicate that acetic and citric acids have the potential to leach Nd and Pr. Microwave leaching was the most effective method, compared to ultrasound and conventional methods. In microwaves, citric acid at 0.5 M (ratio s/l 1/100) leached 57% of Nd and 58% of Pr. Acetic acid at 0.5 M (s/l ratio—1/100) leached 48% of Nd and 65% of Pr, in 15 min. Furthermore, both citric acid and acetic acid also leached high percentages of iron (51% and 72%, respectively)

Indium extraction from LCD screens

Liquid crystal display (LCD) screens are present in a variety of electronic devices including televisions, computers, cell phones, global positioning system (GPS) devices, and others. On a vitreous layer of their inner surface these screens contain the chemical element indium. The presence of this element, considered a critical raw material due to its economic importance and scarce availability, renders the recycling of these screens increasingly attractive. The present study therefore was undertaken with the aim of extracting indium present in LCD screens. Damaged or obsolete monitors with LCD screens were collected and dismantled manually to remove the glass layer containing indium, and subsequently, the glass layer was ground in a ball mill. After grinding, leaching tests for indium extraction were performed. Hydrochloric acid (HCl), at different temperatures and concentrations, was tested as a leaching agent at solid/liquid ratios of 1/100 and 1/10. The results obtained reveal the possibility of extracting indium, with the best result being obtained with HCl 6 M, 60°C, s/l ratio 1/100, with 298 mg In/kg

Determination of the potential gold electrowinning from an amoniacal thiosulphate solution applied to recycling of printed circuit board scraps

The use of electrochemical techniques in the selective recovery of gold from a solution containing thiosulphate, ammonia, and copper, obtained from the leaching of printed circuit boards from mobile phones using ammoniacal thiosulphate, are shown in this work. First, cyclic voltammetry tests were performed to determine the potential of electrodeposition of gold and copper, and then, electrowinning tests at different potentials for checking the rates of recovery of these metals were performed. The results of the cyclic voltammetry show that copper deposition occurs at potentials more negative than −600mV (Ag/AgCl), whereas the gold deposition can be performed at potentials more positives than −600mV (Ag/AgCl). The results of electrowinning show that 99% of the gold present in solutions containing thiosulphate and copper can be selectively recovered in a potential range between −400mV (vs Ag/ AgCl) and −500mV (vs Ag/AgCl). Furthermore, 99% of copper can be recovered in potentials more negative than −700mV (vs Ag/ AgCl)The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors received financial support for the research from CAPES and CNPq from Brazil.Kasper, AC.; Carrillo Abad, J.; García Gabaldón, M.; Veit, HM.; Pérez-Herranz, V. (2015). Determination of the potential gold electrowinning from an amoniacal thiosulphate solution applied to recycling of printed circuit board scraps. Waste Management and Research. 34(1):47-57. doi:10.1177/0734242X15607425S4757341Abbruzzese, C., Fornari, P., Massidda, R., Vegliò, F., & Ubaldini, S. (1995). Thiosulphate leaching for gold hydrometallurgy. Hydrometallurgy, 39(1-3), 265-276. doi:10.1016/0304-386x(95)00035-fAlonso, A. R., Lapidus, G. T., & González, I. (2007). 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Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Aplicación de técnicas de hidrometalurgia y electrometalurgia a la recuperación de oro de placas de circuitos de teléfonos móviles

A cada ano as reservas naturais de metais preciosos, entre eles o ouro, têm diminuído em todo o mundo. Uma forma de atenuar este problema poderia ser a recuperação dos metais contidos nas sucatas de produtos elétricos e eletrônicos, cujo consumo e descarte aumentam consideravelmente a cada ano. Desta forma, este trabalho teve por objetivo testar alternativas de agentes lixiviantes para a extração do ouro contido nas placas de circuito impresso (PCI) de telefones celulares, e posterior recuperação do mesmo por via eletrometalúrgica. Nos ensaios de lixiviação foram utilizadas PCI’s inteiras obtidas de aparelhos obsoletos ou defeituosos e foram testados um deplacante comercial (a base de cianeto) e os agentes lixiviantes alternativos tiossulfato de sódio e tiossulfato de amônio em meio amoniacal, em condições de concentração, pH, tempo e temperaturas variadas. As soluções obtidas foram analisadas por absorção atômica. A etapa eletrometalúrgica iniciou com os ensaios de voltametria cíclica para determinar os potenciais de eletrodeposição do ouro e do cobre, e, em seguida, foram realizados ensaios de eletro-obtenção utilizando diferentes potenciais de eletrodo para determinar as taxas de recuperação destes metais. Os resultados obtidos nos ensaios de lixiviação mostraram que o deplacante comercial foi capaz de extrair 88 % do ouro contido nas PCI's. Com a utilização do tiossulfato de sódio e o tiossulfato de amônio foi possível extrair 70 e 75% do ouro contido nas PCI's, respectivamente, utilizando soluções contendo 0,12M de tiossulfato de sódio, 0,2M de amônia e 20mM de sulfato de cobre. Os resultados obtidos nos ensaios de voltametria cíclica mostraram que a deposição de cobre ocorre a potenciais mais negativos do que -600 mVAg/AgCl, enquanto que a deposição de ouro pode ser efetuada a potenciais mais positivos do que -600 mVAg/AgCl, demonstrado que os dois metais podem ser seletivamente recuperados. Os resultados dos ensaios de eletro-obtenção mostraram que para soluções reais a fração de ouro recuperada chegou a 0,94, enquanto que fração de cobre recuperada chegou a 0,95, utilizando -500 e -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectivamente. A eficiência de corrente alcançada nos experimentos com soluções reais foi inferior a 3%.Cada año las reservas naturales de metales preciosos, entre ellos el oro, van disminuyendo en todo el mundo. Una forma de atenuar este problema podría ser la recuperación de los metales contenidos en las chatarras de productos eléctricos y electrónicos, cuyo consumo y desechos aumentan considerablemente cada año. Por tanto, este trabajo tiene por objetivo evaluar agentes lixiviantes alternativos para la extracción del oro contenido en las placas de circuito impreso (PCI) de teléfonos móviles y su posterior recuperación por vía electrometalúrgica. En los ensayos de lixiviación se utilizaron PCI’s enteras obtenidas de aparatos obsoletos o defectuosos y se probaron un agente extractor comercial (a base de cianuro) y los agentes lixiviantes alternativos tiosulfato sódico y tiosulfato amónico en medio amoniacal, a distintas concentraciones, pH, tiempos y temperaturas. Las disoluciones obtenidas se analizaron por absorción atómica. La etapa electrometalúrgica se inició con los ensayos de voltametría cíclica para determinar los potenciales de electrodeposición de oro y de cobre y a continuación se realizaron ensayos de eletrodeposición utilizando diferentes potenciales de electrodo para determinar las velocidades de recuperación de estos metales. Los resultados obtenidos en los ensayos de lixiviación muestran que el agente extractor comercial fue capaz de extraer el 88% del oro contenido en las PCIs. Con la utilización de tiosulfato sódico y tiosulfato amónico fue posible extraer el 70 y 75% del oro contenido en las PCI’s, respectivamente, utilizando disoluciones de composición 0,12M de tiosulfato sódico, 0,2M de amoniaco y 20mM de sulfato de cobre. Los resultados obtenidos en los ensayos de voltametría cíclica mostraron que la deposición de cobre tiene lugar a potenciales más negativos de - 600 mVAg/AgCl mientras que la deposición de oro se puede efectuar a potenciales más positivos que -600 mVAg/AgCl, demostrando que los dos metales pueden ser recuperados selectivamente. Los resultados de los ensayos de electrodeposición mostraron que, para disoluciones reales, las fracciones recuperadas llegaron a 0.94 para oro y 0.95 para cobre, utilizando -500 mVAg/AgCl y -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectivamente. El rendimiento eléctrico alcanzado en los experimentos con disoluciones reales fue inferior al 3%.The precious metals natural sources, including gold, have decreased around the world each year. The recovery of metals from the scraps of electrical and electronics products could be one way to mitigate this problem, since consumption and disposal have considerably increased every year. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate alternative leaching agents for the gold extraction present in the printed circuit boards (PCB's) of cell phones, and subsequent recovery by electrometallurgical process. Entire PCB's obtained from obsolete or defective cell phones were used. Thus, a commercial stripping (cyanide-based) and alternative leaching agents (sodium and ammonium thiosulfate) were tested under different conditions of concentration, time, pH and temperature. The solutions were analyzed by atomic absorption. The electrometallurgical stage began with the cyclic voltammetry experiments to determine the gold and copper electrowinning potential. After that, electrowinning tests using different electrode potentials to determine the recovery rates of these metals were performed. The results obtained in the leaching tests show that with the commercial stripping, it was possible to extract 88% of the gold present in the PCB. With sodium thiosulfate and ammonium thiosulfate, it was possible to extract 70 and 75% of the gold contained in the PCB, respectively, using 0.12M of sodium thiosulfate, 0.2M of ammonium and 20mM of copper sulphate. The results of cyclic voltammetry showed that the copper deposition occurs at potentials more negative than -600 mVAg/AgCl, while the gold deposition can be performed to more positive potential than -600mVAg/AgCl, showing that both metals can be selectively recovered. The results of the electrowinning tests proved that in the real solution the recovered fractions reached 0.94 for gold and 0.95 for copper, using the electrode potentials of -500 mVAg/AgCl and -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectively. The current efficiency achieved in the experiments, with real solutions, was less than 3%

Caracterização e reciclagem de materiais presentes em sucatas de telefones celulares

A popularização da telefonia móvel, aliada à crescente evolução tecnológica com novos produtos e serviços cada vez mais sofisticados, faz com que consumidores troquem seus aparelhos de telefones celulares antigos por modelos menores, mais leves e, mais modernos. Em conseqüência, uma infinidade de sucatas e aparelhos obsoletos é descartada a cada ano, ocasionando perdas econômicas e poluição ambiental. Neste trabalho as sucatas de aparelhos de telefones celulares foram caracterizadas, visando a reciclagem de alguns dos seus componentes, através do uso de técnicas de processamento mecânico, hidrometalurgia e eletrometalurgia. Os aparelhos de telefones celulares obsoletos ou defeituosos foram coletados em lojas de assistência técnica. Estes aparelhos foram desmontados e suas unidades básicas foram caracterizadas. A maior parte dos aparelhos descartados tinha a sua carcaça constituída por uma mistura de PC/ABS (policarbonato/acrilonitrila-butadieno-estireno), material passível de reciclagem mecânica. Já a fração não condutora das placas de circuito impresso (PCI’s) contém as resinas Epóxi e Poliéster, além de inorgânicos (fibra de vidro e cerâmicos), não passiveis de reciclagem mecânica, mas passíveis de terem um percentual (5%) incorporado como carga na reciclagem das carcaças. Ensaios físico-mecânicos realizados em corpos de prova obtidos do material reciclado comprovaram tanto a possibilidade de reciclagem das carcaças poliméricas, quanto a incorporação do percentual da fração não condutora das PCI’s como carga na reciclagem das carcaças. Com relação aos metais, o uso de técnicas de processamento mecânico (moagem, classificação granulométrica, separação magnética e eletrostática) mostrou-se uma alternativa eficiente para obtenção de uma fração concentrada (principalmente ferro na fração magnética e cobre na fração condutora) e outra fração contendo polímeros e cerâmicos. O uso destas técnicas mostrou-se ineficiente na concentração alguns metais, como ouro e prata. Ao final do processamento mecânico foi possível obter frações concentradas de metais com uma concentração média de mais de 60% de cobre. Esta fração concentrada em metais foi dissolvida em água régia e realizada a eletro-obtenção, através da qual foi possível recuperar mais de 92 % do cobre dissolvido. Os cátodos obtidos possuíam teores de cobre acima de 95%, o que demonstra a viabilidade técnica da recuperação de cobre utilizando técnicas de processamento mecânico, hidrometalurgia e eletrometalurgia. Na lixiviação de ouro e prata utilizando um lixiviante alternativo, tiossulfato em meio amoniacal, os resultados obtidos não foram considerados satisfatórios, pois foram obtidos percentuais de recuperação de no máximo 30% para ouro e 17% para prata, demonstrando que a técnica deve ser melhor estudada.The popularization of mobile phones, combined with a technological evolution of new products and services that are increasingly sophisticated, makes the consumers change their old devices for smaller, lighter and more modern ones. As a result, a large number of scrap and obsolete equipment are discarded every year, causing economic losses and environmental pollution. In this work, mobile phone scraps are characterized in order to recycle some of the device components, using techniques of mechanical processing, hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy. To perform this study mobile phones, obsolete or defective, were collected from technical assistance workshops. These devices were disassembled and their units were characterized. Most devices discarded had a frame (or chassis) consisting of a mixture of PC/ABS (polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), a material that could be recycled, while a fraction of them had nonconductive of printed circuit boards (PCBs) containing epoxy and polyester resins, and inorganic materials (glass fiber and ceramic), not susceptible to mechanical recycling, but could have a percentage (5%) incorporated as load on recycling of frames. Physical-mechanical tests performed on specimens obtained from recycled material proved both the possibility of recycling of polymeric frames and the incorporation of the percentage of non-conductive fraction of the PCB, as a load, in the recycling of frames. With regard to metals, the use of techniques of mechanical processing (milling, particle size classification, magnetic and electrostatic separation) was an efficient alternative to obtain a concentrated fraction (mainly iron in the magnetic fraction and copper in the conductive fraction) and another fraction containing polymers and ceramics. These techniques proved to be ineffective in the concentration of metals such as gold and silver. At the end of mechanical processing, a concentrated fraction of metals could be obtained with an average concentration of 60% copper. This concentrated fraction in metals was dissolved in aqua regia and sent to electrowinning to recover copper. The cathodes obtained have a copper content above 95%, which demonstrates the technical feasibility of recovery of copper using the techniques of mechanical processing, hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy. In the leaching of gold and silver, an alternative system using thiosulfate in ammoniacal medium, the results obtained were not satisfactory because the maximum recovery was 30% for gold and 17% for silver, demonstrating that the technique needs further evaluation

Caracterização e reciclagem de materiais presentes em sucatas de telefones celulares

A popularização da telefonia móvel, aliada à crescente evolução tecnológica com novos produtos e serviços cada vez mais sofisticados, faz com que consumidores troquem seus aparelhos de telefones celulares antigos por modelos menores, mais leves e, mais modernos. Em conseqüência, uma infinidade de sucatas e aparelhos obsoletos é descartada a cada ano, ocasionando perdas econômicas e poluição ambiental. Neste trabalho as sucatas de aparelhos de telefones celulares foram caracterizadas, visando a reciclagem de alguns dos seus componentes, através do uso de técnicas de processamento mecânico, hidrometalurgia e eletrometalurgia. Os aparelhos de telefones celulares obsoletos ou defeituosos foram coletados em lojas de assistência técnica. Estes aparelhos foram desmontados e suas unidades básicas foram caracterizadas. A maior parte dos aparelhos descartados tinha a sua carcaça constituída por uma mistura de PC/ABS (policarbonato/acrilonitrila-butadieno-estireno), material passível de reciclagem mecânica. Já a fração não condutora das placas de circuito impresso (PCI’s) contém as resinas Epóxi e Poliéster, além de inorgânicos (fibra de vidro e cerâmicos), não passiveis de reciclagem mecânica, mas passíveis de terem um percentual (5%) incorporado como carga na reciclagem das carcaças. Ensaios físico-mecânicos realizados em corpos de prova obtidos do material reciclado comprovaram tanto a possibilidade de reciclagem das carcaças poliméricas, quanto a incorporação do percentual da fração não condutora das PCI’s como carga na reciclagem das carcaças. Com relação aos metais, o uso de técnicas de processamento mecânico (moagem, classificação granulométrica, separação magnética e eletrostática) mostrou-se uma alternativa eficiente para obtenção de uma fração concentrada (principalmente ferro na fração magnética e cobre na fração condutora) e outra fração contendo polímeros e cerâmicos. O uso destas técnicas mostrou-se ineficiente na concentração alguns metais, como ouro e prata. Ao final do processamento mecânico foi possível obter frações concentradas de metais com uma concentração média de mais de 60% de cobre. Esta fração concentrada em metais foi dissolvida em água régia e realizada a eletro-obtenção, através da qual foi possível recuperar mais de 92 % do cobre dissolvido. Os cátodos obtidos possuíam teores de cobre acima de 95%, o que demonstra a viabilidade técnica da recuperação de cobre utilizando técnicas de processamento mecânico, hidrometalurgia e eletrometalurgia. Na lixiviação de ouro e prata utilizando um lixiviante alternativo, tiossulfato em meio amoniacal, os resultados obtidos não foram considerados satisfatórios, pois foram obtidos percentuais de recuperação de no máximo 30% para ouro e 17% para prata, demonstrando que a técnica deve ser melhor estudada.The popularization of mobile phones, combined with a technological evolution of new products and services that are increasingly sophisticated, makes the consumers change their old devices for smaller, lighter and more modern ones. As a result, a large number of scrap and obsolete equipment are discarded every year, causing economic losses and environmental pollution. In this work, mobile phone scraps are characterized in order to recycle some of the device components, using techniques of mechanical processing, hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy. To perform this study mobile phones, obsolete or defective, were collected from technical assistance workshops. These devices were disassembled and their units were characterized. Most devices discarded had a frame (or chassis) consisting of a mixture of PC/ABS (polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), a material that could be recycled, while a fraction of them had nonconductive of printed circuit boards (PCBs) containing epoxy and polyester resins, and inorganic materials (glass fiber and ceramic), not susceptible to mechanical recycling, but could have a percentage (5%) incorporated as load on recycling of frames. Physical-mechanical tests performed on specimens obtained from recycled material proved both the possibility of recycling of polymeric frames and the incorporation of the percentage of non-conductive fraction of the PCB, as a load, in the recycling of frames. With regard to metals, the use of techniques of mechanical processing (milling, particle size classification, magnetic and electrostatic separation) was an efficient alternative to obtain a concentrated fraction (mainly iron in the magnetic fraction and copper in the conductive fraction) and another fraction containing polymers and ceramics. These techniques proved to be ineffective in the concentration of metals such as gold and silver. At the end of mechanical processing, a concentrated fraction of metals could be obtained with an average concentration of 60% copper. This concentrated fraction in metals was dissolved in aqua regia and sent to electrowinning to recover copper. The cathodes obtained have a copper content above 95%, which demonstrates the technical feasibility of recovery of copper using the techniques of mechanical processing, hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy. In the leaching of gold and silver, an alternative system using thiosulfate in ammoniacal medium, the results obtained were not satisfactory because the maximum recovery was 30% for gold and 17% for silver, demonstrating that the technique needs further evaluation

Aplicación de técnicas de hidrometalurgia y electrometalurgia a la recuperación de oro de placas de circuitos de teléfonos móviles

A cada ano as reservas naturais de metais preciosos, entre eles o ouro, têm diminuído em todo o mundo. Uma forma de atenuar este problema poderia ser a recuperação dos metais contidos nas sucatas de produtos elétricos e eletrônicos, cujo consumo e descarte aumentam consideravelmente a cada ano. Desta forma, este trabalho teve por objetivo testar alternativas de agentes lixiviantes para a extração do ouro contido nas placas de circuito impresso (PCI) de telefones celulares, e posterior recuperação do mesmo por via eletrometalúrgica. Nos ensaios de lixiviação foram utilizadas PCI’s inteiras obtidas de aparelhos obsoletos ou defeituosos e foram testados um deplacante comercial (a base de cianeto) e os agentes lixiviantes alternativos tiossulfato de sódio e tiossulfato de amônio em meio amoniacal, em condições de concentração, pH, tempo e temperaturas variadas. As soluções obtidas foram analisadas por absorção atômica. A etapa eletrometalúrgica iniciou com os ensaios de voltametria cíclica para determinar os potenciais de eletrodeposição do ouro e do cobre, e, em seguida, foram realizados ensaios de eletro-obtenção utilizando diferentes potenciais de eletrodo para determinar as taxas de recuperação destes metais. Os resultados obtidos nos ensaios de lixiviação mostraram que o deplacante comercial foi capaz de extrair 88 % do ouro contido nas PCI's. Com a utilização do tiossulfato de sódio e o tiossulfato de amônio foi possível extrair 70 e 75% do ouro contido nas PCI's, respectivamente, utilizando soluções contendo 0,12M de tiossulfato de sódio, 0,2M de amônia e 20mM de sulfato de cobre. Os resultados obtidos nos ensaios de voltametria cíclica mostraram que a deposição de cobre ocorre a potenciais mais negativos do que -600 mVAg/AgCl, enquanto que a deposição de ouro pode ser efetuada a potenciais mais positivos do que -600 mVAg/AgCl, demonstrado que os dois metais podem ser seletivamente recuperados. Os resultados dos ensaios de eletro-obtenção mostraram que para soluções reais a fração de ouro recuperada chegou a 0,94, enquanto que fração de cobre recuperada chegou a 0,95, utilizando -500 e -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectivamente. A eficiência de corrente alcançada nos experimentos com soluções reais foi inferior a 3%.Cada año las reservas naturales de metales preciosos, entre ellos el oro, van disminuyendo en todo el mundo. Una forma de atenuar este problema podría ser la recuperación de los metales contenidos en las chatarras de productos eléctricos y electrónicos, cuyo consumo y desechos aumentan considerablemente cada año. Por tanto, este trabajo tiene por objetivo evaluar agentes lixiviantes alternativos para la extracción del oro contenido en las placas de circuito impreso (PCI) de teléfonos móviles y su posterior recuperación por vía electrometalúrgica. En los ensayos de lixiviación se utilizaron PCI’s enteras obtenidas de aparatos obsoletos o defectuosos y se probaron un agente extractor comercial (a base de cianuro) y los agentes lixiviantes alternativos tiosulfato sódico y tiosulfato amónico en medio amoniacal, a distintas concentraciones, pH, tiempos y temperaturas. Las disoluciones obtenidas se analizaron por absorción atómica. La etapa electrometalúrgica se inició con los ensayos de voltametría cíclica para determinar los potenciales de electrodeposición de oro y de cobre y a continuación se realizaron ensayos de eletrodeposición utilizando diferentes potenciales de electrodo para determinar las velocidades de recuperación de estos metales. Los resultados obtenidos en los ensayos de lixiviación muestran que el agente extractor comercial fue capaz de extraer el 88% del oro contenido en las PCIs. Con la utilización de tiosulfato sódico y tiosulfato amónico fue posible extraer el 70 y 75% del oro contenido en las PCI’s, respectivamente, utilizando disoluciones de composición 0,12M de tiosulfato sódico, 0,2M de amoniaco y 20mM de sulfato de cobre. Los resultados obtenidos en los ensayos de voltametría cíclica mostraron que la deposición de cobre tiene lugar a potenciales más negativos de - 600 mVAg/AgCl mientras que la deposición de oro se puede efectuar a potenciales más positivos que -600 mVAg/AgCl, demostrando que los dos metales pueden ser recuperados selectivamente. Los resultados de los ensayos de electrodeposición mostraron que, para disoluciones reales, las fracciones recuperadas llegaron a 0.94 para oro y 0.95 para cobre, utilizando -500 mVAg/AgCl y -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectivamente. El rendimiento eléctrico alcanzado en los experimentos con disoluciones reales fue inferior al 3%.The precious metals natural sources, including gold, have decreased around the world each year. The recovery of metals from the scraps of electrical and electronics products could be one way to mitigate this problem, since consumption and disposal have considerably increased every year. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate alternative leaching agents for the gold extraction present in the printed circuit boards (PCB's) of cell phones, and subsequent recovery by electrometallurgical process. Entire PCB's obtained from obsolete or defective cell phones were used. Thus, a commercial stripping (cyanide-based) and alternative leaching agents (sodium and ammonium thiosulfate) were tested under different conditions of concentration, time, pH and temperature. The solutions were analyzed by atomic absorption. The electrometallurgical stage began with the cyclic voltammetry experiments to determine the gold and copper electrowinning potential. After that, electrowinning tests using different electrode potentials to determine the recovery rates of these metals were performed. The results obtained in the leaching tests show that with the commercial stripping, it was possible to extract 88% of the gold present in the PCB. With sodium thiosulfate and ammonium thiosulfate, it was possible to extract 70 and 75% of the gold contained in the PCB, respectively, using 0.12M of sodium thiosulfate, 0.2M of ammonium and 20mM of copper sulphate. The results of cyclic voltammetry showed that the copper deposition occurs at potentials more negative than -600 mVAg/AgCl, while the gold deposition can be performed to more positive potential than -600mVAg/AgCl, showing that both metals can be selectively recovered. The results of the electrowinning tests proved that in the real solution the recovered fractions reached 0.94 for gold and 0.95 for copper, using the electrode potentials of -500 mVAg/AgCl and -700 mVAg/AgCl, respectively. The current efficiency achieved in the experiments, with real solutions, was less than 3%