Effect of ionic liquid [MIm]HSO4 on WPCB metal-enriched scraps refined by slurry electrolysis.

Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) are usually dismantled, crushed, and sorted to WPCB metal-enriched scraps, still containing an amount of non-metallic materials. This research used slurry electrolysis to refine these WPCB metal-enriched scraps and to examine if a standard ionic liquid, [MIm]HSO4, can replace H2SO4 in the system. The impact of the refinement process on metal migration and transformation is discussed in detail. The results demonstrated that metals in WPCB metal-enriched scraps could be successfully refined using slurry electrolysis, and [MIm]HSO4 can be used to replace H2SO4 in the system. When 80% of H2SO4 was replaced by [MIm]HSO4 (electrolyte of 200 mL, 30 g/L CuSO4·5H2O, 60 g/L NaCl, 130 g/L H2SO4, and 1.624 A for 4 h), the total metal recovery rate is 85%, and the purity, current efficiency, and particle size of cathode metal powder were 89%, 52%, and 3.77 μm, respectively. Moreover, the microstructure of the cathode metal powder was dendritic in the H2SO4-CuSO4-NaCl slurry electrolysis system, whereas at an 80% [MIm]HSO4 substitution rate slurry electrolysis system, the cathode metal powder was irregular and accumulated as small-sized spherical particles. Thus, replacing inorganic leaching solvents with ionic liquids may provide a potential choice for the resources in WPCB metal-enriched scraps.