................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ... xii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 1 1.1 Background ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 1 1.2 Electronic Waste ................................ ................................ ................................ 2 1.2.1 Classification of E -waste 2 1.2.2 Building Blocks of E -waste 4 1.2.3 E-waste Production Rate 5 1.2.4 Resources in E -waste 7 1.3 Research Problem ................................ ................................ .............................. 8 1.4 Motivation of the Study ................................ ................................ ..................... 8 1.5 Research Objectives ................................ ................................ .......................... 9 1.6 Outline of Thesis ................................ ................................ ............................. 10 Chapter 2 Literature Review ................................ ................................ ................................ . 11 2.1 Mechanical Processing ................................ ................................ .................... 11 2.1.1 Disassembly 12 2.1.2 Screening and Shape Separation 12 2.1.3 Magnetic Separation 13 2.1.4 Electric Co nductivity based Separation 13 2.1.5 Density/Gravity based Separation 13 2.2 Metallurgical Processing ................................ ................................ ................. 14 Chapter 3 Materials and Methods ................................ ................................ ........................ 19 3.1 Materials ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 19 3.1.1 Glassware and Reactors 19 3.1.2 Chemicals 19 3.1.3 Electronic Waste 19 vii 3.1.4 Instruments 19 3.2 Methods ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 20 3.2.1 Sample Preparation 20 3.2.2 Microwave Digestion 20 3.2.3 Initial Metal Analysis 21 3.2.4 Silver and Copper Extraction 21 3.2.5 Complete Digestion of Remaining Solids 23 3.2.6 Extraction of Gold 24 Chapter 4 Results and Discussion ................................ ................................ ......................... 25 4.1 Sample Preparation ................................ ................................ .......................... 25 4.2 Optimization of Reactants in Microwave Digester ................................ ......... 25 4.3 Quantification of Initial Metal Concentration ................................ ................. 26 4.4 Hydrometallurgical Processing ................................ ................................ ....... 27 4.4.1 Extraction of Copper and Silver 27 4.4.2 Extraction of Gold 35 Chapter 5 Conclusions and Future Scope of Work ................................ ............................. 38 5.1 Future Scope of Work ................................ ................................ ..................... 39 Presentations and Publications ................................ ................................ ............................. 41