Selective separation and recovery of silver and copper from mixtures by photocatalysis
Separation and recovery of valuable metals including silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) from electronic waste mixtures are of great economic and environmental importance. Recent years, semiconductor photocatalysts have been investigated intensively for the removal of Ag from wastewater. Few studies have been carried out on the effect of pH and co-exist metal ions such as Cu on Ag. In this study, ZnO and TiO2 were applied as photocatalysts to target on the selective recovery Ag and Cu from its mixtures under UV light. The effects of pH, catalyst, ethylene-diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) on the Ag and Cu photo-reduction were studied. Modeling of Ag[Formula: see text] and Cu[Formula: see text] with and without EDTA distribution together with metal precipitations was plotted against pH to understand the chemistry involved in photocatalysis. Experimental results showed that Ag[Formula: see text] photo-reduction was nearly completed by ZnO and TiO2 to Ag metal, while Cu[Formula: see text] photo-reduction to Cu2O only occurs by ZnO in the presence of EDTA. This work illustrates that semiconductor photocatalysts are suitable for selective recovery of Ag and Cu from wastewaters.