The process discovered is able to recover metals from end-of-life solar panels using cheap, environmentally friendly solvents (substances used to dissolve, extract, or suspend other substances).
Silver is an essential metal for the functioning of solar panels. However, the amount of naturally occurring silver found in ores is decreasing, making supply a concern for the future. This not only affects the production of photovoltaic (PV) cells – aka solar cells – but other essentials such as LED chips, nuclear reactors and equipment for the medical industry.
For this reason, the University of Leicester team set out to find a way to recover the silver used in discarded panels.
“These new ‘unusual’ brines offer new possibilities for the processing of metals," said Dr Guillaume Zante, from the Centre for Materials Research at the University of Leicester. “Unlike ‘regular’ salted water made of sodium chloride, we used choline chloride and calcium chloride...