Cadmium extraction from the electrodeposition waste generated in CdS/CdTe solar cell fabrication

On-site chemical waste management is an essential field to be addressed by researchers to avoid unsystematic chemical waste disposal to the environment, which triggers severe damages to natural habitats and living beings. Though, the waste generated in CdS/CdTe based solar cell manufacture may conta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2023-04, Vol.34 (12), p.1071, Article 1071
Main Authors: Gajanayake, G. K. U. P., De Silva, D. S. M., Atapattu, H. Y. R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cadmium
Cadmium sulfide
Cadmium tellurides
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry and Materials Science
Electrolytic cells
Electroplating
Heavy metals
Materials Science
Optical and Electronic Materials
Photovoltaic cells
Solar cells
Waste disposal
Waste management
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Summary:On-site chemical waste management is an essential field to be addressed by researchers to avoid unsystematic chemical waste disposal to the environment, which triggers severe damages to natural habitats and living beings. Though, the waste generated in CdS/CdTe based solar cell manufacture may contain toxic levels of Cd heavy metal, Cd in photovoltaics was not reported to leach out during power generation. This study proposed the electroplating technique as an effective method to extract cadmium from the electrolyte waste generated in CdS/CdTe solar cells fabrication by wet methods. The galvanostatic extraction was performed by applying a constant 0.2 A current at a potential lower than 5 V for 23 h. Removal of 98% cadmium in the waste solution was achieved and further confirmed by the AAS analysis. The EDX, XRF, and XRD analysis confirmed the presence of pure cadmium and cadmium as a mixture of hexagonal-Cd, hexagonal-Cd(OH) 2, monoclinic-Cd(OH) 2 , cubic-CdTe, and cubic-CdO in the materials extracted.
ISSN:0957-4522
1573-482X
DOI:10.1007/s10854-023-10428-4