Uso de solventes eutéticos profundos na recuperação dos metais Co, Cu e Pb em resíduos eletrônicos

Abstract

The global increase in e-waste due to technological advancement and the rapid obsolescence of electronic devices is a matter of concern. According to the United Nations, approximately 53.6 million tons of electronic waste were generated in 2019. Recycling and recovering the valuable metals present in this waste are essential to reduce the need for mining, save energy and mitigate gas emissions greenhouse effect. In this context, deep eutectic solvents (DES) appear as a possible solution. Their ability to dissolve metal oxides makes them promising in the recovery of industrially important metals. In this study, a preliminary analysis was carried out to evaluate the potential of ethalin, a type of DES synthesized from choline chloride and ethylene glycol in a 1:2 ratio, in the recovery of metals Co, Cu and Pb from electronic waste. Ethalin was applied in the recovery process of these metals and the removal was monitored using the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) technique, known for its low-threshold detection capability and multi-element analysis. The recovery results obtained for this study were 0.9709, 804.32 and 774.28 for Co, Cu and Pb, respectively. In this way, it shows the potential of ethalin as a viable alternative to traditional solvents in the field of metal recovery, which paves the way for future research and practical applications in the area of sustainability and material recycling.