Study on sample pre-treatment and selection of optimal conditions for aluminum (Al) leaching from solar panel modules

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental results on the sample pre-treatment process and aluminum (Al) extraction from solar panel modules. In this study, the solar panel modules were cleaned, cut into small pieces, and pre-treated to separate the tempered glass from the surface of the solar panel modules. The remaining material was then heated, ground into fine powder, and used for aluminum extraction. Experimental results show that the pre-treatment process with Toluene solvent at 450 ^oC resulted in 54.4 % tempered glass and 12.3 % metal fibers, with the remaining powder accounting for 33.3 %. The pre-treated samples were then subjected to aluminum extraction using a NaOH 5 M solution through wet inorganic dissolution. The research indicates that the optimal solid-to-liquid (S:L) ratio is 1 g sample/15 mL NaOH 5 M, achieving a dissolution efficiency of 65.5 %. The chosen dissolution time was 60 minutes at 60 ^oC, yielding a dissolution efficiency of 76.2 %.