A green approach for the selective recovery of Copper, Lead, and Tin from End-of-Life photovoltaic solder ribbons

Current methods for recovering copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and tin (Sn) from photovoltaic (PV) solder ribbons usually completely dissolve or melt the solder ribbons and then recover each element, which are reagent-intensive and generate large amounts of secondary waste. Herein, we develop an environmentally sustainable method for recovering Cu, Pb and Sn from End-of-Life (EoL) PV solder ribbons. First, above 95 % of pure Cu is recovered in the acetic acid (HAc) and hydrogen peroxide mixture (H 2 O 2 ), by which the Pb-Sn coating is selectively dissolved and separated from the Cu substrate. Second, the small portion of dissolved Cu 2+ is separated by solvent extraction (e.g., Lix84-I) and then is recovered by the electrolysis with a recovery rate of 99 %. Third, the dissolved Pb is recovered by electrochemical deposition with a recovery rate of 99 %, and Sn is recovered as Sn/SnO 2 powders. The selective recovery relies on the core–shell structure of ribbons and the different dissolution rates of Cu, Pb and Sn in the HAc, and the use of the HAc instead of HCl and HNO 3 leads to a cleaner process. Overall, the green recovery of solder ribbons will contribute to resource conservation and the circular economy of the EoL photovoltaic modules (PVMs).