a b s t r a c tWaste printed circuit boards (PCBs) contain a large number of metals such as Cu, Sn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Zn, and Mn. In this work, an efficient and environmentally friendly process for metals recovery from waste PCBs by supercritical water (SCW) pre-treatment combined with acid leaching was developed. In the proposed process, waste PCBs were pre-treated by SCW, then the separated solid phase product with concentrated metals was subjected to an acid leaching process for metals recovery. The effect of SCW pre-treatment on the recovery of different metals from waste PCBs was investigated. Two methods of SCW pre-treatment were studied: supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) and supercritical water depolymerization (SCWD). Experimental results indicated that SCWO and SCWD pre-treatment had significant effect on the recovery of different metals. SCWO pre-treatment was highly efficient for enhancing the recovery of Cu and Pb, and the recovery efficiency increased significantly with increasing pre-treatment temperature. The recovery efficiency of Cu and Pb for SCWO pre-treatment at 420°C was 99.8% and 80%, respectively, whereas most of the Sn and Cr were immobilized in the residue. The recovery of all studied metals was enhanced by SCWD pre-treatment and increased along with pre-treatment temperature. Up to 90% of Sn, Zn, Cr, Cd, and Mn could be recovered for SCWD pre-treatment at 440°C.

a b s t r a c tAn effective and benign process for copper and lead recovery from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) was developed. In the process, the PCBs was pre-treated in supercritical water, then subjected to electrokinetic (EK) process. Experimental results showed that supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) process was strong enough to decompose the organic compounds of PCBs, and XRD spectra indicated that copper and lead were oxidized into CuO, Cu 2 O and ␤-PbO 2 in the process. The optimum SCWO treatment conditions were 60 min, 713 K, 30 MPa, and EK treatment time, constant current density were 11 h, 20 mA cm −2 , respectively. The recovery percentages of copper and lead under optimum SCWO + EK treatment conditions were around 84.2% and 89.4%, respectively. In the optimized EK treatment, 74% of Cu was recovered as a deposit on the cathode with a purity of 97.6%, while Pb was recovered as concentrated solutions in either anode (23.1%) or cathode (66.3%) compartments but little was deposited on the electrodes. It is believed that the process is effective and practical for Cu and Pb recovery from waste electric and electronic equipments.

a b s t r a c tPrecious metals are the most attractive resources in waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) of mobile phones. In this work, an alternative process for recovering Au, Ag, and Pd from waste PCBs of mobile phones by supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) pre-treatment combined with iodine-iodide leaching process was developed. In the process, the waste PCBs of mobile phones were pre-treated in supercritical water, then a diluted hydrochloric acid leaching (HL) process was used to recovery the Cu, whose leaching efficiency was approximately 100%, finally the resulting residue was subjected to the iodine-iodide leaching process for recovering the Au, Ag, and Pd. Experimental results indicated that SCWO pre-treatment temperature, time, and pressure had significant influence on the Au, Ag, and Pd leaching from (SCWO + HL)-treated waste PCBs. The optimal SCWO pre-treatment conditions were 420°C and 60 min for Au and Pd, and 410°C and 30 min for Ag. The optimum dissolution parameters for Au, Pd, and Ag in (SCWO + HL)-treated PCBs with iodine-iodide system were leaching time of 120 min (90 min for Ag), iodine/iodide mole ratio of 1:5 (1:6 for Ag), solid-to-liquid ratio (S/L) of 1:10 g/mL (1:8 g/mL for Ag), and pH of 9, respectively. It is believed that the process developed in this study is environment friendly for the recovery of Au, Ag, and Pd from waste PCBs of mobile phones by SCWO pre-treatment combined with iodine-iodide leaching process.

a b s t r a c tThe recovery of valuable materials from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) is quite difficult due to the heterogeneous mix of polymer materials, multiple kinds of metals and glass fiber. A feasibility study was conducted using supercritical methanol (SCM) to simultaneously recover polymers and metals from waste PCBs. The study focused on the characteristics of both oils and solid products obtained from the SCMtreated waste PCBs. The operation conditions were temperature range of 300-420• C, treatment time between 30 and 120 min and solid-to-liquid ratio (S/L) of 1:10-1:30 (g/mL) so as to understand the products and depolymerization mechanisms of waste PCBs in SCM. GC-MS results revealed that the oils mainly contained phenol and its methylated derivatives, and the methylated derivatives increased with the increase of reaction temperature. The methylated reaction occurred mainly above 400• C. The liquid products also contained a significant number of phosphated fire retardant additives such as triphenyl phosphate, which decreased significantly with the increase of reaction temperature. The solid product mainly consisted of Cu, Fe, Sn, Pb and Zn, as well as lower concentrations of precious metals such as Ag and Au.

h i g h l i g h t sWe report an effective process for co-treatment of waste PCBs and PVC. Brominated flame retardants can be decomposed efficiently in co-treatment. Dechlorination of PVC was complete and safe. Cu and Pb in waste printed circuit boards can be recovered efficiently. Sn and Cr can be immobilized efficiently in the residue after co-treatment. t r a c tIn this work, an effective process for removal of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and recovery of Cu and Pb from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) was developed. In the process, waste PCBs and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were co-treated by subcritical water oxidation (SBWO). PVC was used as a hydrochloric acid source and waste PCBs was used as a neutralizing reagent for the produced HCl. The dechlorination of PVC, removal of BFRs, and recovery of Cu and Pb could be achieved simultaneously by the one-step SBWO reaction. Experimental results showed that the dechlorination of PVC was complete when SBWO temperature exceeded 250°C. SBWO co-treatment was high efficient for the leaching of Cu and Pb from waste PCBs, and XRD spectra indicated that Sn was immobilized as SnO 2 in the residue after co-treatment. The optimum SBWO co-treatment conditions were temperature of 350°C, time of 60 min, solidliquid ratio of 1:9 g/ml, and PVC-to-PCBs ratio of 1:1, respectively. In the optimized co-treatment, 98.9% of Cu and 80% of Pb were recovered, while the leaching efficiencies of Sn and Cr were 15.3% and 3.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, approximately 100% of the bromine was changed into HBr and enriched in water after co-treatment.

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Due to heavy metals' magnified pollution from their accumulation in the ecosystem, practical detection of ultra-low concentration of heavy metals in environmental sample is of great significance for environmental supervision and maintenance of people's health. Herein, a practical and sensitive assay of heavy metal mercury was developed by visually observing (or spectrum detecting) the change of cationic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which is directly caused by mercury ion induced hybridization between non-canonical base pairs. In this assay, signal probe's response was direct rather than the indirect salt induction, thus avoiding the defect of salt-induced indirect response. It makes the analysis more sensitive. The results showed that the response of 8.2 × 10 −8 M Hg 2+ could be observed with naked eye and the detection limit of Hg 2+ in spectrometric determination was 4.9 × 10 −11 M, which is more than one order of magnitude lower than that from indirect response pattern of signal probe. In addition, high specificity of the affinity chemistry for T-Hg-T renders the assay to be highly selective. Compared with the results of cold vapor atom adsorption spectroscopy (CVAAS), this analysis has good reliability for the detection of mercury. The results fully indicate that the developed assay is an ideal alternative for online detection of heavy metal mercury in environmental pollution samples.