CHARACTERIZATION AND PROCESSING, BY MECHANICAL PROCESSING, OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS OF POST-CONSUMER SMARTPHONES

Abstract

Smartphones are electronic devices increasingly used by Brazilian society in recent years. With the advancement of technology, the consequence is an increase in the disposal of this equipment in a shorter period of time. On the other hand, there are elements such as copper, gold and others can be recycled. Thus, the aim of the study was to employ mechanical processing techniques on smartphone printed circuit boards (PCB) in order to concentrate metals, especially copper, and identify the main elements concentrated in each process. For this purpose, 87 smartphones were collected and disassembled, after a mass balance, the PCB were comminuted and separated into 4 particle size ranges. Through chemical characterization, it is possible to verify a variation in the composition, according to the granulometry. With magnetic separation, iron contents of 9% to 34% were obtained, increasing the concentration proportionally to the increase in granulometry. The non-magnetic fraction went through the electrostatic separation process, in which conductive fractions of up to 52% copper were generated. It can be concluded that mechanical processing techniques are efficient for concentration of metals and alloys, especially copper, and, therefore, can bring economic and environmental benefits.

Keywords

• Smartphones
• Characterization
• Electronic waste
• Urban Mining