Assessing aspects of solution-based chemical synthesis to convert waste Si solar cells into nanostructured aluminosilicate crystals

Edita Garskaite; Math Bollen; Enock Mulenga; Mathis Warlo; Glenn Bark; Espen Olsen; Dalia Brazinskiene; Denis Sokol; Dietrich Buck; Dick Sandberg

doi:10.1039/D4CE00038B

Assessing aspects of solution-based chemical synthesis to convert waste Si solar cells into nanostructured aluminosilicate crystals

Edita Garskaite,

†*^ab Math Bollen,

^c Enock Mulenga,

^c Mathis Warlo,

^d Glenn Bark,

^d Espen Olsen,

^e Dalia Brazinskiene,

^f Denis Sokol,

^g Dietrich Buck

^a and Dick Sandberg

^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Wood Science and Engineering, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, Forskargatan 1, SE-931 87 Skellefteå, Sweden
E-mail: edita.garskaite@byggtek.lth.se

^b Division of Building Materials, Lund University, John Ericssons väg 1, Lund, Sweden

^c Electric Power Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Forskargatan 1, SE-931 87 Skellefteå, Sweden

^d Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden

^e Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Drøbakveien 31, 1430 Ås, Norway

^f Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Sauletekio 3, Vilnius, Lithuania

^g Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, Vilnius University, Naugarduko 24, Vilnius LT-03225, Lithuania

Abstract

The end-of-life recycling of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules and the utilisation of waste is of fundamental importance to future circular-economy societies. In the present work, the wet-chemistry synthesis route – a low-temperature dissolution–precipitation process – was explored to produce aluminosilicate minerals from waste c-Si solar cells. Nanostructured crystals were produced in an alkaline medium by increasing the reaction temperature from room temperature to 75 °C. The morphology of the produced crystals varied from nanolayered aggregates to rod-shaped crystals and was found to be dependent on the temperature of the reaction medium. Chemical and phase composition studies revealed that the synthesised compounds consisted of structurally different phases of aluminosilicate minerals. The purity and elemental composition of produced crystals were evaluated by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and micro X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) analysis, confirming the presence of Al, O, and Si elements. These results give new insights into the processing of aluminosilicate minerals with sustainable attributes and provide a possible route to reducing waste and strengthening the circular economy.

This article is part of the themed collection: Articles behind the 2024 journal covers

CrystEngComm

Assessing aspects of solution-based chemical synthesis to convert waste Si solar cells into nanostructured aluminosilicate crystals

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