Copper recovery from waste printed circuit boards concentrated metal scraps by electrolysis

摘要

Copper recovery is the core of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) treatment. In this study, we proposed a feasible and efficient way to recover copper from WPCBs concentrated metal scraps by direct electrolysis and factors that affect copper recovery rate and purity, mainly CuSO_4•5H_2O concentration, NaCl concentration, H_2SO_4 concentration and current density, were discussed in detail. The results indicated that copper recovery rate increased first with the increase of CuSO_4 • 5H_2O, NaCl, H_2SO_4 and current density and then decreased with further increasing these conditions. NaCl, H_2SO_4 and current density also showed a similar impact on copper purity, which also increased first and then decreased. Copper purity increased with the increase of CuSO_4 • 5H_2O. When the concentration of CuSO_4•5H_2O, NaCl and H_2SO_4 was respectively 90, 40 and 118 g/L and current density was 80 mA/cm~2, copper recovery rate and purity was up to 97.32% and 99.86%, respectively. Thus, electrolysis proposes a feasible and prospective approach for waste printed circuit boards recycle, even for e-waste, though more researches are needed for industrial application.