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A Study to Recover Si and Ag from Solar Cells and PV Ribbons by Utilizing Acid Solutions

A Study to Recover Si and Ag from Solar Cells and PV Ribbons by Utilizing Acid Solutions
	© 2023 by IJETT Journal
	Volume-71 Issue-1
	Year of Publication : 2023
	Author : Hyun-Jong Kim, Jong-Min Jeong, Jei-Pil Wang
	DOI : 10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V71I1P221

How to Cite?

Hyun-Jong Kim, Jong-Min Jeong, Jei-Pil Wang, "A Study to Recover Si and Ag from Solar Cells and PV Ribbons by Utilizing Acid Solutions," International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, vol. 71, no. 1, pp. 222-233, 2023. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V71I1P221

Abstract
In this research, a study was conducted to selectively recover Si and Ag from solar cells and PV ribbons, which are elements of solar cell modules, by utilizing acid solutions. To selectively recover Si from spent solar cells and PV ribbon, a leaching process was carried out by using an acid solution (HNO3). The solar cells in which the reaction had ended were washed with distilled water and dried in a drying oven at 100°C for 24 hours. After crushing the dried solar cells into a fine powder, Si's purity and recovery rate was found through XRD and XRF analysis. For the solution that had reacted with the solar cells, ICP-OES analysis was carried out after decompression filtration. In addition, to selectively recover Ag from the filtered solution that had reacted with the solar cells, HCl was input to proceed with the sediment formation reaction. The sediment powder that had formed was recovered and reduced by using Hydrazine (N2H4). After the powder in which the reduction reaction had completed was decompression filtered and recovered, it was dried in a drying oven at 100°C for 24 hours. The purity and recovery rate of Ag for the dried powder was found through XRD and XRF analysis. In addition, ICPOES analysis was carried out on the filtered solution after recovering the sediment powder. The experiment was conducted with the concentration, reaction temperature, reaction time, and ultrasound intensity of the acid solution (HNO3) as variables during the leaching process and with the input amount of HCl as the variable during the sediment formation reaction. As the result of the experiment, the optimal process for the leaching reaction using HNO3 was derived from being acid solution concentration of 3M, reaction temperature of 60℃, the reaction time of 30min, and ultrasound intensity of 200W, and the optimal process for the sediment formation reaction was derived from being 1ml of HCl input. At this time, the Si purity and recovery rates were 99.58% and 99.94%, respectively, and the Ag purity and recovery rates were 99.72% and 93.96%, respectively.

Keywords
Spent solar cell, Acid solution, Recovery rate, Silicon (Si), Silver (Ag).

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