About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Fundamentals of Sustainable Metallurgy and Materials Science
|
| Presentation Title |
From Industrial Waste to Metallic Alloys: Thermodynamically Guided Hydrogen Plasma Reduction of Electroplating Sludge |
| Author(s) |
Tugce Beyazay, Ömer Büyükuslu, Tim M. Schwarz, Henri Pauna, Dierk Raabe |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Tugce Beyazay |
| Abstract Scope |
The transition toward sustainable metal production requires efficient recycling strategies that reduce reliance on primary resources while recovering critical metals from industrial residues. Electroplating sludge (EPS) is an underutilized secondary resource containing nickel, copper, chromium, and iron, yet its chemical heterogeneity limits efficient recycling by conventional treatment routes. This work presents a thermodynamically guided hydrogen plasma reduction (HPR) approach, in which reactive hydrogen species enable rapid oxide reduction and direct conversion of EPS into metallic alloys. Equilibrium thermodynamic calculations were used to guide HPR processing conditions. In situ plasma diagnostics were carried out using optical emission spectroscopy (OES), while the reduced products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atom probe tomography (APT). The results demonstrate the potential of thermodynamically guided HPR as a sustainable route for transforming complex industrial residues into metallic alloys, supporting circular resource utilization and low-carbon metallurgy. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Recycling and Secondary Recovery, Copper / Nickel / Cobalt, Sustainability |