Europium, Yttrium, and Indium Recovery from Electronic Wastes

• Main Authors: Ernesto de la Torre, Estefanía Vargas, César Ron, Sebastián Gámez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-09-01
• Series: Metals
• Subjects: WEEE; yttrium; indium; hydrometallurgy
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/8/10/777

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has increased in recent decades due to the continuous advancement of technology in the modern world. These residues have various metals that are found in concentrations that make their recovery profitable. A group of metals of interest are the rare earths such as europium and yttrium, as well as semiconductors such as indium. Yttrium was recovered from cathode ray tubes that were manually dismantled. The resulted powder was leached with HNO3, and then the solution was submitted to solvent extraction with di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (DEHPA) using n-heptane as a diluent. For re-extraction, HNO3 was used again, and yttrium was precipitated by adding four times the stoichiometric amount of oxalic acid, reaching 68% yttrium purity. Indium was recovered from the liquid crystal display (LCD) screens for which the pulverized material was leached with H2SO4. Then, the indium sulfate was subjected to solvent extraction using DEHPA as an extractant, and diesel as a diluent. The re-extraction was carried out again with H2SO4, and the obtained acid solution was evaporated until the indium precipitated, reaching a recovery of 95%. The investigations that were carried out show that it is feasible to recover these metals in the form of oxides or phosphates with high commercial value.