IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jwaste/v1y2022i1p6-94d983743.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modification of Recovered Silicon from End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels for Catalytic Reduction of Cr(VI)

Author

Listed:
  • Charalampos Pavlopoulos

    (School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Konstantina Papadopoulou

    (School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Minas Theocharis

    (School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Petros Tsakiridis

    (School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Pavlina Kousi

    (School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Artin Hatzikioseyian

    (School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Emmanouella Remoundaki

    (School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece)

  • Gerasimos Lyberatos

    (School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece
    Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences (ICE-HT), Stadiou Str., Platani, 26504 Patras, Greece)

Abstract

As installed photovoltaic panels (PVPs) approach their End of Life (EoL), the need for a sustainable recovery plan becomes imperative. This work aims to reuse silicon from EoL PVPs as a potential catalyst/photocatalyst for wastewater treatment. PVPs were pretreated thermally. The resulting mixture was separated into different fractions using a trommel screen. Recovered silicon flakes were cleaned with HΝO 3 and HF in order to obtain pure Si, which was then etched through a single stage Ag-assisted Chemical Etching process and decorated with Ag/Cu. Photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) in the presence of 5 mM citric acid was carried out in a 600 mL batch reactor irradiated by a Xenon 150 W arc lamp as well as under dark conditions. It was found that, in the presence of 1.2 g/L of Si catalyst, Cr(VI) at an initial concentration of 15 mg/L can be reduced below the detection limit (>99%), even under dark conditions, in 30–180 min, depending on the pH of the solution and the citric acid concentration. Citric acid was proved to assist the reaction in three ways: lowering the pH, increasing the solubility of the precipitate, preventing inhibition, and as sacrificial agent in photocatalysis. Irradiation, however, was shown to possibly inhibit the process if the citric acid concentration is low.

Suggested Citation

  • Charalampos Pavlopoulos & Konstantina Papadopoulou & Minas Theocharis & Petros Tsakiridis & Pavlina Kousi & Artin Hatzikioseyian & Emmanouella Remoundaki & Gerasimos Lyberatos, 2022. "Modification of Recovered Silicon from End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels for Catalytic Reduction of Cr(VI)," Waste, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-14, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jwaste:v:1:y:2022:i:1:p:6-94:d:983743
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/1/1/6/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/1/1/6/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sica, Daniela & Malandrino, Ornella & Supino, Stefania & Testa, Mario & Lucchetti, Maria Claudia, 2018. "Management of end-of-life photovoltaic panels as a step towards a circular economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2934-2945.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. D'Adamo, Idiano & Mammetti, Marco & Ottaviani, Dario & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2023. "Photovoltaic systems and sustainable communities: New social models for ecological transition. The impact of incentive policies in profitability analyses," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1291-1304.
    2. Salim, H.K. & Stewart, R.A. & Sahin, O. & Dudley, M., 2020. "Systems approach to end-of-life management of residential photovoltaic panels and battery energy storage system in Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    3. Maria A. Franco & Stefan N. Groesser, 2021. "A Systematic Literature Review of the Solar Photovoltaic Value Chain for a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-35, August.
    4. Nain, Preeti & Kumar, Arun, 2020. "Initial metal contents and leaching rate constants of metals leached from end-of-life solar photovoltaic waste: An integrative literature review and analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    5. Farrell, C.C. & Osman, A.I. & Doherty, R. & Saad, M. & Zhang, X. & Murphy, A. & Harrison, J. & Vennard, A.S.M. & Kumaravel, V. & Al-Muhtaseb, A.H. & Rooney, D.W., 2020. "Technical challenges and opportunities in realising a circular economy for waste photovoltaic modules," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    6. Jain, Suresh & Sharma, Tanya & Gupta, Anil Kumar, 2022. "End-of-life management of solar PV waste in India: Situation analysis and proposed policy framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Koami Soulemane Hayibo & Pierce Mayville & Ravneet Kaur Kailey & Joshua M. Pearce, 2020. "Water Conservation Potential of Self-Funded Foam-Based Flexible Surface-Mounted Floatovoltaics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-24, November.
    8. Aleksandar Petrovski & Emmanuel Pauwels & Aránzazu Galán González, 2021. "Implementing Regenerative Design Principles: A Refurbishment Case Study of the First Regenerative Building in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    9. Kosmadakis, Ioannis E. & Elmasides, Costas & Koulinas, Georgios & Tsagarakis, Konstantinos P., 2021. "Energy unit cost assessment of six photovoltaic-battery configurations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 24-41.
    10. Ozoegwu, Chigbogu Godwin & Akpan, Patrick Udeme-obong, 2021. "Solar energy policy directions for safer and cleaner development in Nigeria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    11. Hana Kim & Hun Park, 2018. "PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Shahbazbegian, Vahid & Hosseini-Motlagh, Seyyed-Mahdi & Haeri, Abdorrahman, 2020. "Integrated forward/reverse logistics thin-film photovoltaic power plant supply chain network design with uncertain data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    13. Jasleen Kaur Daljit Singh & Georgina Molinari & Jonathan Bui & Behdad Soltani & Gobinath Pillai Rajarathnam & Ali Abbas, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of Disposed and Recycled End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-16, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jwaste:v:1:y:2022:i:1:p:6-94:d:983743. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.