Separation and Recovery of Valuable Elements from Spent CIGS Materials

Abstract

A separation–recovery method was proposed in this study to recover valuable elements from spent copper–indium–gallium–selenium (CIGS) materials based on the different physical and chemical properties of their components. Spent CIGS materials were first roasted at 1000 °C to achieve phase transformation. During the transformation, 99.9% selenium was volatilized and recovered via oxidation into selenium dioxide. Meanwhile, other metals were converted from selenides to oxides. Subsequently, the indium and gallium in the roasting product were separated from copper via sulfuric acid leaching and precipitation. After the precipitation product was roasted, mixed oxides that contained 90.59% indium oxide and gallium oxide were obtained. The recovery rates of indium and gallium were 97.74% and 97.41%, respectively. Lastly, 99.83% of the copper in the filtrate was recovered via solvent extraction. The selective separation and recovery of valuable metals can be achieved through the rational utilization of the physic...