Cost-effective and eco-friendly copper recovery from waste printed circuit boards using organic chemical leaching

Abstract

Electronic waste generation is indeed a global concern; therefore, appropriate management and recycling are becoming highly significant. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are significant portion of e-waste; contains a large number of valuable metals, rendering this material an important recovery resource. Among all other metals, the high Copper concentration of PCB residues, which is often ten times higher than that of rich-content rocks, makes these residues an appealing secondary source of Cu recovery. The primary goal of this study is to develop a simple and economical method for recovering Cu from waste PCBs. To leach metals, a combination of citric acid, acetic acid, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was utilized. The influence of systemic factors such as citric acid concentration, acetic acid concentration, and H2O2 concentration on Cu leaching process was investigated. The results proved that the combination of citric acid, acetic acid, and H2O2 has increased the leaching efficiency of copper. More copper was dissolved when leaching with 0.5–1.5 M citric acid, 2.5–7.5%, and 2.5–7.5% H2O2 at 30 °C; however the individual acids produces less amount of Cu such as 26.86 ppm, 22.33 ppm, and 6.28 ppm whereas, high amount of Cu is obtained from the leaching solution containing 1 M citric acid, 5% acetic acid and 5% H2O2 with 325.89 ppm respectively. Thus, the combination of these acids and can be used as standardized method for leaching of Cu. These findings suggest that organic acids can replace inorganic acids as eco-friendly lixiviants for waste management.