About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Rare Metal Extraction & Processing
|
| Presentation Title |
Hydrometallurgical processing of discarded PCBs to recover precious and base metals |
| Author(s) |
Shushant Shekher Rakshit, Rekha Panda, Ankur Sharma, Apurva Aditi, Manis Kumar Jha |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Shushant Shekher Rakshit |
| Abstract Scope |
A novel hydrometallurgical process flow-sheet for recovering precious and base metals from printed circuit boards (PCBs) begins with depopulation of components like heat sinks (for aluminum recovery), RAM/ICs (for gold), and other refurbishable items. RAM and ICs are treated with suitable lixiviant to dissolve gold, which is recovered via charcoal adsorption and high-temperature burning. Naked PCBs along with gold depleted RAMs and ICs undergo crushing, pulverization followed by leaching using 20% H2SO4 and 10% H2O2 to dissolve copper, nickel, zinc, and lead. Sequential solvent extraction at pH 2.5 and 4.5 recovers copper and nickel, while lead is separated by cementation with zinc, subsequently, zinc is precipitated as Zn(OH)2. The solid leached residue from the initial treatment is further leached with HNO3 to extract silver and tin. Silver is precipitated as AgCl, and tin is precipitated using NaOH. This integrated route ensures selective and efficient metal recovery from electronic waste. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Extraction and Processing, Hydrometallurgy, Recycling and Secondary Recovery |