Catalytic effect and mechanism of coexisting copper on conversion of organics during pyrolysis of waste printed circuit boards

摘要

Pyrolysis is a promising technology for recycling organic materials from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs). Nevertheless, the generated organic bromides are toxic and urgently needed to be removed. The coexisting copper (Cu) of WPCBs has potential performance on debromination. However, the catalytic effect and mechanism of Cu on pyrolysis process and products were still unclear. To clarify the in-situ catalysis of Cu, the analysis on kinetics and pyrolysis products was performed. The results showed that Cu can change the mechanism function of pyrolysis, which reduced the apparent activation energy (Ea). The mechanism function of Cu-coated WPCBs was obtained by Sestak-Berggren model and expressed as: d alpha/dt = 1.65 x 10(7) x [(1 - alpha)(-1.30)-alpha(6.09)(ln(1 alpha))(-6.03)]exp(- 202.45KJ/mol/RT).Product analysis suggested that Cu proRT moted the conversion of organic bromides to Br-2 and HBr. During the process of pyrolysis, bromide atoms interacted with Cu to form coordination compound, which can weaken the strength of C-Br bond and generate bromide free radical (Br*). Besides, Cu can promote the conversion of aromatic-Br to Br-2 as the catalyst for Ullmann cross-coupling reaction. Therefore, the presence of Cu was beneficial to pyrolysis. This work provided the theoretical basis for the improvement and application of pyrolysis technology.