Sorbent selection for the recovery of gallium and indium from aqueous solutions: a sustainable approach to the recovery of strategic metals from LED lamps.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
; 31(47): 57748-57764, 2024 Oct.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39292305
ABSTRACT
Gallium and indium, metals present in light-emitting diode (LED) lighting technology, can be effectively recovered from aqueous solutions by sorption. For this purpose, carbonaceous materials, such as activated carbon, or low-cost biosorbents as beer bagasse, spent coffee grounds or peanut shells, and a low-cost zeolite as chabazite, were characterized by BET, FTIR, XRD, and SEM analysis prior use. Protonated chabazite, with high surface area (505 m2/g) and a Si/Al molar ratio of 3.4, showed high sorption capacities for gallium (56 mg/g) and indium (92 mg/g), which is 10 to 30 times higher than those of our carbonaceous materials (T = 298 K, pH < 3, dosage = 1 g/L). Sorption experiments with both metals in solution showed a competitive effect between gallium and indium for the sorption sites of the chabazite, showing more affinity toward gallium than indium. Ga3+sorbed/In3+sorbed molar ratio above 2 was achieved for the same initial concentration of both metals, increasing to almost 3 when the initial gallium concentration increased, which was appropriate since gallium concentration tends to be higher in LED chips. However, the sorption capacity for both metals was always around 0.35 mmol Ga + In/g. The selectivity of the chabazite was conditioned by different behavior of both metals in aqueous solution at the sorption pH (below 3.5) being the predominant species in solution Ga(OH)2+ for gallium and In3+ for indium. Sorption with protonated chabazite can be used in the treatment of spent LEDs leachate for the dual purpose of water purification and selective metal separation.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Galio
/
Indio
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
Asunto de la revista:
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
/
TOXICOLOGIA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
España
Pais de publicación:
Alemania