Recovery of galium and indium from liquid crystal displays and CIGS photovailtaic modules

Abstract

Abstract: The increasing amount of electronics, such as consumer products and green technologies (e.g. solar PV cells) increases the demand of metals such as indium and gallium. This increasing demand together with the dependency on import of these metals drive research on recycling of waste electronics from secondary sources, so called urban mining. A hydrometallurgical process for the recovery of indium and gallium from flat panel displays and photovoltaic panels is under development within the RECLAIM project. Characterisation of flat panel displays and photovoltaic cell has been performed and has been compared with manual and automatic disassemblement. Results indicate that mineral acids can be used to release indium and gallium. Preliminary results of recovery and purification processes are presented and further research regarding these processes is outlined