Development of a novel recycling system for waste cathode ray tube funnel glass based on the integration of nanoscale Fe0 with ball milling.

A novel and effective system was developed for recycling cathode ray tube (CRT) funnel glass wastes. Initially, the combination of nanoscale Fe0 with ball milling promoted lead transfer that was strongly encapsulated in the glass inner structure to the surface of funnel glass and/or adhere to iron substance due to the collapse of SiO bonds. This condition enhanced the dissolution of lead in the acid solution. A high lead extraction rate of 97.8% from funnel glass was achieved through nitric acid leaching by optimizing the operational parameters (Fe0/funnel glass mass ratio, 0.5:1; ball milling time; 72 h). Subsequently, lead sulfate, iron hydroxides, and sodium nitrate were gradually recovered from the acid leachate by using three simple operations, namely, sulfation, alkali neutralization, and salt evaporation. Meanwhile, the leaching results of short-term toxicity characteristic leaching (TCLP) and long-term multiple extraction procedures (MEP) clearly demonstrated that the residual high silica products (after acid leaching) had no impact on the environment and could be used to synthesize high value-added zeolites as raw materials. With the addition of Al sources, the complete conversion of high silica residues into high crystalline zeolites with high cation exchange capacity value was realized by applying an alkaline fusion method during the hydrothermal treatment. Furthermore, lead, NO-3, and SO2-4 concentrations of the resulting drainage were considerably lower than the relevant standard for surface water quality. Therefore, the proposed recycling system provided an eco-friendly and feasible technique for complete reutilization of obsolete CRT funnel glass.