Process Development for Extraction and Separation of In and Y from Discarded Flat Panel Displays
Doktorsavhandling, 2015

From the time of their invention in the 1970s, flat panel displays (FPDs) have slowly become the most used type of displays in televisions, computers, and cell phones. A major subgroup of FPDs is lLiquid crystal displays (LCDs). With the continuous growth of FPDs, the need and incentive to recycle the valuable components has also grown larger, as the displays will inevitably enter the waste stream. Among the valuable components, indium from the transparent electrode coating on LCD glass and rare earth elements (REEs) from parts such as fluorescent lamp phosphors are of special interest for recycling from end-of-life products. In this work, hydrometallurgical processes to recycle indium and REEs such as yttrium from different types of FPD waste were developed. The process comprised several steps such as leaching and solvent extraction. Result of the leaching studies showed that concentrations of metals such as iron and copper were much higher indium and yttrium. Furthermore, with respect to leaching efficiency and feasibility of subsequent solvent extraction process, 1 M H2SO4 was determined as the best leaching option for the recovery of indium from LCD glass and 1 M HCl for the recovery of both indium and yttrium from mixed FPD waste. Several choices of aqueous and organic solutions were tested in a solvent extraction screening test to determine feasible choices of extractant and stripping agent. The results showed that extraction from H2SO4 using DEHPA in kerosene followed by back-extraction with HCl was a promising alternative for the recovery of indium. Indium and yttrium can be separated by selective extraction of indium from chloride media using Cyanex 923. In order to further optimize the separation process, the effect of pH and temperature on the extraction of indium was investigated with H2SO4 or HCl as the aqueous phase and DEHPA in kerosene as the organic phase. From the temperature study it was concluded that the since the extraction of indium was an exothermic process, optimal extraction temperature was 20 oC. Furthermore, a process scheme was proposed for the recovery of indium and REEs from 1 M HCl leachate. This process was tested using laboratory mixer-settlers and was found to agree reasonably well with theoretical calculations based on the extraction isotherms of indium and yttrium.

LCD

Indium

Recycling

Cyanex 923

Leaching

DEHPA

Solvent Extraction

Yttrium

KB
Opponent: Prof. Jon Petter Omtvedt

Författare

Jiaxu Yang

Chalmers, Kemi- och bioteknik, Industriell materialåtervinning

Indium recovery from discarded LCD panel glass by solvent extraction

Hydrometallurgy,;Vol. 137(2013)p. 68-77

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift

Optimization of Indium Recovery and Separation from LCD Waste by Solvent Extraction with Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Phosphate (D2EHPA)

International Journal of Chemical Engineering,;Vol. 2014(2014)

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift

In recent years Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) have largely replaced Cathode Ray Tube displays and have become the most popular type of displays in many countries in the world. As more and more of these products enter the waste stream, the importance of recovery of these valuable metals from the discarded LCDs is also increasing. Indium is present in LCDs as Indium-Tin-Oxide (90% indium oxide and 10% tin oxide), and is used as transparent electrode material in the panel glass. Yttrium along with other rare earth elements such as Europium and Gadolinium are used in the phosphor powders of florescent lamps, which are used in LCDs as backlights. In this project, different fractions of real flat panel display (mostly LCDs) waste were studied, and a process for the recycling of indium and yttrium from the acidic leachate of these waste fractions was developed. The steps in the design of the process included characterization of the solid waste, acid leaching and different solvent extraction studies. From the experimental results, it was concluded that both indium and yttrium could be separated into relatively pure aqueous streams, and schematics of the process was presented.

Ämneskategorier

Oorganisk kemi

Kemi

Drivkrafter

Hållbar utveckling

Styrkeområden

Materialvetenskap

ISBN

978-91-7597-201-5

KB

Opponent: Prof. Jon Petter Omtvedt

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Skapat

2017-10-07