(2017) Journal of CO₂ Utilization_Using CO₂ to mitigate evolution of harmful chemical compounds during thermal degradation of printed circuit boards

Lee J., Lee T., Ok Y.S., Oh J.-I., Kwon E.E.

(Elsevier Ltd) Journal of CO2 Utilization ISSN: 22129820 Vol.20 Issue. Article No. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcou.2017.05.009

In this study, CO₂ was used as a reaction medium in the pyrolysis of printed circuit boards (PCBs), thus providing a novel route to mitigate the evolution of harmful chemical species during the thermal degradation of PCBs. For example, this study showed that CO₂ acts as an effective carbon scavenger during the pyrolysis of PCBs. CO₂ facilitated the thermal cracking of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that evolved from the thermal degradation of PCBs. As a result, CO₂ mitigated the evolution of various harmful pollutants such as phenol and benzene derivatives, PAHs and brominated pollutants, which resulted in the increased generation of syngas (H₂ and CO). This study indicates that using CO₂ as a reaction medium could lead to the development of a more environmentally benign process for the thermal treatment of PCBs and other harmful and/or refractory wastes. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST)) (No. NRF-2016R1D1A1B03933027). This work was also supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (MSIP) (No. NRF-2015H1D3A1066513).