How to recover palladium and silver from waste MLCCs by eutectic capture?

In view of the special structure of MLCCs and low content of precious metals per unit mass, a novel approach of enrichment for recovering palladium and silver from waste MLCCs by eutectic capture process of copper was proposed, in which process precious metals were separated and enriched for subsequent recovery.

What are monolithic ceramic capacitors (MLCC)?

Monolithic Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) are a surface mount device (SMD) and can be found in almost all electronic applications now days and they have two main roles. They support the power supply for semiconductor devices and keep electrical "noise" at a low level. Usually found around chips and CPU's.

Are multilayer ceramic capacitors recyclable?

Recycling waste multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) is significant for environmental protection and resource recovery, which contain rich precious metals including palladium and silver. The existing recycling methods have many shortcomings such as environmental pollution, low recovery efficiency and low purity of precious metals.

What is the mechanism of copper capture of waste multilayer ceramic capacitors?

Pd and Ag of waste multilayer ceramic capacitors were enriched by capture process of copper with high recovery rates. The mechanism of copper capture for Pd and Ag was proposed by thermodynamics. The molten residue can be reused to prepare glass-ceramics. There was no waste water and waste residue produced in the capture process.

What are the enrichment multiples of palladium and silver?

And the enrichment multiples of palladium and silver were 13.16 and 7.37. The Cu-Pd-Ag alloy was formed in the capture process, of which palladium and copper formed Cu-Pd solid solution, while silver was a separate phase through the analysis of SEM-EDS, XPS and XRD. Besides, the molten residue can be reused to prepare glass-ceramics.

What percentage of MLCC is palladium?

For example, the content of palladium in MLCCs of one printed circuit board (PCB) in computer accounts for 80 % of the total palladium content of the entire board (Delfini et al., 2011). And electronics industry consumes 13 % of the global palladium (Patricia et al., 2013).