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Recovery of Metals from Tantalum Capacitors with Ionic Liquids
Author(s) -
Spitczok von Brisinski Lena,
Goldmann Daniel,
Endres Frank
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemie ingenieur technik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1522-2640
pISSN - 0009-286X
DOI - 10.1002/cite.201300059
Subject(s) - tantalum , tantalum capacitor , materials science , ionic liquid , anode , capacitor , dissolution , electrolyte , tin , halide , ionic bonding , electrolytic capacitor , inorganic chemistry , polymer capacitor , chemical engineering , metallurgy , chemistry , electrode , ion , voltage , organic chemistry , electrical engineering , engineering , catalysis
Ionic liquids can be applied to recover tantalum capacitors from scrap printed circuit boards. Dissolution experiments with epoxy covered through‐hole tantalum capacitors in Lewis acidic mixtures of dialkylimidazolium halides and aluminum trichloride show that all parts, except the tantalum anode, are dissolved in the ionic liquid. This comprises MnO 2 from the capacitor's electrolyte as well as tin and silver from the metallic contacts. The latter ones can be directly recovered from the solution by electrodeposition. The tantalum anode is mechanically separated and suitable for further metallurgical processing.