Thermal cracking of waste printed wiring boards for mechanical recycling by using residual steam preprocessing

Yao Chen1, Jinhui Li1, Huabo Duan1, Zhishi Wang2
1School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
2Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Macau, China

Tóm tắt

Mechanical waste-processing methods, which combine crushing and separation processes for the recovery of valuable materials, have been widely applied in waste printed wiring board (PWB) treatment. However, both the high impact toughness and the tensile and flexural strengths of whole PWB with a laminated structure result in great energy consumption and severe abrasion of the cutters during multi-level crushing. In addition, the high temperatures occurring in continual crushing probably cause the decomposition of the polymer matrix. A thermal-crack method using residual steam as the heating medium has been developed to pre-treat waste PWBs. This treatment reduces the mechanical strength in order to improve the recovery rate of valuable materials in subsequent mechanical recycling. The changes of the PWBs’ macro-mechanical properties were studied to evaluate thermal expansion impacts associated with changes in temperature, and the dynamic dislocation micro-structures were observed to identify the fracture mechanism. The results showed that thermal cracking with steam at the temperature of 500 K can effectively attenuate the mechanical properties of waste PWBs, by reducing the impact, tensile and flexural strengths respectively, by 59.2%, 49.3% and 51.4%, compared to untreated PWB. Thermal expansion can also facilitate the separation of copper from glass fiber by reducing peel resistance by 95.4% at 500 K. It was revealed that the flexural fracture was a transverse cracking caused by concentrated stress when the heating temperature was less than 500 K, and shifted to a vertical cracking after exceeding 500 K.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Chen B. Experimental Study on the Debromination ofWaste Printed Circuit Board. Dissertation for Master Degree. Beijing: Tsinghua University, 2008 (in Chinese) Hall W J, Williams P T. Separation and recovery of materials from scrap printed circuit boards. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2007, 51(3): 691–709 Zhu Q, Shrotriya P, Sottos N R, Geubelle P H. Three-dimensional viscoelastic simulation of woven composite substrates for multilayer circuit boards. Composites Science and Technology, 2003, 63(13): 1971–1983 Cui J, Forssberg E. Mechanical recycling of waste electric and electronic equipment: a review. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2003, 99(3): 243–263 Zhou C H. Research on the Recycling of Waste Printed Circuit Board Using Mechanical Methods. Dissertation for Doctoral Degree. Beijing: China University of Mining and Technology, 2003 (in Chinese) Shindo Y, Takahashi S, Takeda T, Narita F, Watanabe S. Mixed-mode interlaminar fracture and damage characterization in woven fabric-reinforced glass/epoxy composite laminates at cryogenic temperatures using the finite element and improved test methods. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 2008, 75(18): 5101–5112 Li J H, Duan H B. Characteristics of low-temperature pyrolysis from printed circuit board waste recycling. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2010. 54(11): 810–815 Yuan C, Zhang H, McKenna G, Korzeniewski C, Li J. Experimental studies on cryogenic recycling of printed circuit board. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 2007, 34(7–8): 657–666 Zhou C, Lu M, Pan Y, Chen M, Qiao X. Low-temperature modification of discarded printed circuit board. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni, 2007, 46: 151–153 Li Q H. Summary of Crushing Theory. Beijing: China Metallurgical Industry Press, 1993(in Chinese) Ray B C. Adhesion of glass/epoxy composites influenced by thermal and cryogenic environments. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2006, 102(2): 1943–1949 Weinhold M, Yen G. How advanced low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) laminates and prepregs can improve the reliability of printed circuit boards (PCBs). Circuit World, 2003, 29(1): 24–31 Chen K S, Chen H C, Wu C H, Chou Y M. Kinetics of thermal and oxidative decomposition of printed circuit boards. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 1999, 125(3): 277–283 Zhang Y, Xia Z, Ellyin F. Evolution and influence of residual stresses/strains of fiber-reinforced laminates. Composites Science and Technology, 2004, 64(10–11): 1613–1621 Li L, Kim S M, Song S H, Ku T W, Song W J, Kim J, Chong M K, Park J W, Kang B S. Finite element modeling and simulation for bending analysis of multi-layer printed circuit boards using woven fiber composite. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 2008, 201(1–3): 746–750 Blazsó M, Czégény Z, Csoma C. Pyrolysis and debromination of flame retarded polymers of electronic scrap studied by analytical pyrolysis. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 2002, 64(2): 249–261 Yuan J, Packowski M A. The thermal degradation and decomposition of brominated epoxy FR-4 laminates. In: Proceedings of the 43rd Electronic Components & Technology Conference, Orlando, USA, 1993, 330–335 Levchik S V, Weil E D. Thermal decomposition, combustion and flame-retardancy of epoxy resins—a review of the recent literature. Polymer International, 2004, 53(12): 1901–1929 Zhao M. Study on Emission of Gaseous Pollutants during Crushing Processes of Waste Printed Circuit Boards. Dissertation for Master Degree. Beijing: Tsinghua University, 2006 (in Chinese) Meijerink J I, Eguchi S, Ogata M, Ishii T, Amagi S, Numata S, Sashima H. The influence of siloxane modifiers on the thermal expansion coefficient of epoxy resins. Polymer, 1994, 35(1): 179–186 Barontini F, Marsanich K, Petarca L, Cozzani V. Thermal degradation and decompostition products of electronic boards containing BFRs. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2005, 44(12): 4186–4199 Chiang H L, Lin K H, Lai M H, Chen T C, Ma S Y. Pyrolysis characteristics of integrated circuit boards at various particle sizes and temperatures. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2007, 149(1): 151–159 Yuan J, Paczkowski M A. Thermal degradation and decomposition of brominated epoxy FR-4 laminates. IEEE Piscataway NJ USA, 1993: 330-335 Lu H Z, Li J, Guo J, Xu Z M. Pulverization characteristics and pulverizing of waste printed circuit boards (printed wiring boards) based on resource utilization. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University, 2007, 41(4): 551–556 (in Chinese) Zhang S F, Ji K J, Zhang Y S. Study on the micro-fracture behavior of several thermoplastic plastics. Engineering Plastics Application, 1995, 23(6): 41–52 (in Chinese) Megel M, Kumosa L, Ely T, Armentrout D, Kumosa M. Initiation of stress-corrosion cracking in unidirectional glass/polymer composite materials. Composites Science and Technology, 2001, 61(2): 231–246