Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden recently developed a new method to efficiently recover precious metals from thin-film solar cells.
Although thin film cells represent less than 10% of the solar cell market, they exhibit excellent performance under certain conditions and a wider range of applications attributed to their unique advantages over conventional silicon-based crystalline cells, such as bendability and adaptability.
The production of CIGS cells, a leading variety of thin film technology, necessitates high demand for indium and silver. However, this process generates significant waste, including a combination of precious metals and hazardous substances.
Effectively separating these metals from other substances is very beneficial both economically and environmentally, because they can be reused for new products.
“It is crucial to remove and recycle any contaminants so that the material becomes as clean as possible again. So far, high temperatures and a large amount of chemicals have been used to succeed, which is an expensive process that is also not environmentally friendly. ” says Ioanna Teknetzi, a Ph.D. student at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technologywho together with Dr. Burcak Ebin and Dr. Stellan Holgersson published the new study in the journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.
The researchers took into account both the purity of the recovered materials and the impact on the environment during the recycling process. To achieve this they used a method called leaching to separate the metals in the cells. This method uses far fewer chemicals than traditional methods, making the process “milder” on the environment. Additionally, the researchers refined the process to minimize the impurities in the recovered indium and silver.
The research shows that this is the case possible to recover 100% of the silver and about 85% of the indium, which took place at room temperature without adding heat. Although it took one day, which is slightly longer than traditional methods, it is more cost-effective and better for the environment.
“Our hope is that our research can be used as a reference to optimize the recycling process and pave the way for using the method on a larger scale in the future,” said Dr. Burcak Ebin.
Details about the research and the new method can be found in this magazine.
