In the world of sustainability, electronic waste recycling plays a crucial role in reducing environmental impact and recovering valuable resources. The MetroCycleEU project, involving over 15 European metrology and non-metrology institutes, is leading the way in setting real-world standards for analyzing electronic waste to guide the recycling industry.
In this interview, Johanna Irrgeher and Thomas Prohaska, talk to AZoMaterials about their work, the challenges they face, and the future of recycling technology-critical components from electronic waste.
Can you provide more information about the MetroCycleEU project?
Johanna Irrgeher: It is all about recycling technology-critical components from electronic waste. The project, which includes more than 15 European metrology and non-metrology partner institutes, aims to define real-world standards for the analysis of electronic waste as a decision-making basis for the recycling industry.
The recycling industry is very interested in having standardized protocols at the end of the project and receiving certified reference materials, which are required for traceability.
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How long have you been conducting electronic recycling research?
Thomas Prohaska: Trace element analysis has been an important area of research for a quarter of a century. About ten years ago, we began to investigate the composition of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and other materials to determine the environmental impact and to gain insight into the possibility of recycling precious metals in the future.
What is the end goal of your research? What do you want to achieve?
Thomas Prohaska:The first PhD project's goal was to gain an understanding of the composition of what you would find in a mobile phone: what are the representative metal or plastic components, while also realizing how complex this type of sample is. The goal was to determine whether there was a certain level of metals of interest for further recycling.
Ten years ago, the situation was completely different from what it is today. But at that point, we realized how difficult it was to obtain those samples, as well as detach (and destroy) a mobile phone to select individual components.
To understand the total content of each element, a mobile phone, PCB, loudspeakers, and so on should be shredded.
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Johanna Irrgeher: In addition to PCBs, we also investigated light-emitting diodes and lithium-ion batteries. The main challenge at the time was sample preparation, as it was difficult to extract homogeneous material from old components.
The design of a mobile phone is extremely compact, with components tightly attached or even glued. Consider the PCB as an example, how would you detach it so that you only extract the copper-bearing components or the display, which is made up of very thin layers? These are some of the difficult questions for which we are seeking answers.
How does ICP-MS fit into your research, and what are some other technologies that are used?
Thomas Prohaska: We have been working in the field of trace elements for over 25 years, and ICP-MS is the analytical tool of choice for this type of analysis, particularly for metals. Metals are also of great interest to the battery and e-waste recycling industries.
Using ICP-MS, we can examine a wide range of metals at varying concentrations. The analysis of rare earth elements is also very interesting. Gadolinium, for example, is critical to analyze at extremely low levels using ICP-MS.
Other analytical technologies that could be used in electronic recycling include scanning electron microscopy to analyze recycled fine aggregates. Spectroscopic methods such as FTIR, FTIR microscopy, and Raman are ideal for analyzing polymeric compounds.
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What other challenges did you have to face? What are the biggest challenges facing the recycling industry as a whole?
Johanna Irrgeher: Wet chemistry is a huge challenge. Getting the material into solution is not easy; the matrix necessitates complex acid mixtures and digestion procedures. Also, you must ensure that the elements remain stable in the solution until analysis, and each element requires different conditions.
Aside from the challenges of sample preparation, the electronic recycling industry currently consists of companies of various sizes - some large and many small - each with their methods and requirements, making it difficult to implement standards that apply to everyone.
What are your hopes for the future? And what is next in your research?
Thomas Prohaska: At Montanuniversität Leoben, we cover the entire value chain, from raw materials to recycling, so we want to ensure that we have a thorough understanding of the key challenges and how to address them. Current research clusters focus on topics such as sustainable hydrogen production.
About Johanna Irrgeher
Johanna Irrgeher is an Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Leoben (MUL) and the Chair of the IUPAC Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights. Her research focuses on elemental and isotope ratio analysis based on mass spectrometry in environmental sciences, recycling and sustainability, material and life sciences.
About Thomas Prohaska
Thomas Prohaska is a full professor and head of the Department of General, Analytical and Physical Chemistry at Montanuniversität Leoben (MUL). His research has centered on spectroscopy, with a particular emphasis on inorganic mass spectrometry using ICP-MS. His research group is currently focused on advancing metrology and technology, including key projects in the field of green transition.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by PerkinElmer.
For more information on this source, please visit PerkinElmer.
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