Ximing Zhang, Feihong Guo, Xiaoxiang Jiang, Abdullah Hassan Hamadamin, Adam F. Lee, Karen Wilson, Jabbar Gardy
{"title":"Upcycling waste photovoltaic cells into silicon carbide via flash Joule heating","authors":"Ximing Zhang, Feihong Guo, Xiaoxiang Jiang, Abdullah Hassan Hamadamin, Adam F. Lee, Karen Wilson, Jabbar Gardy","doi":"10.1039/d5ee01509j","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"As global demand for clean energy increases, the rapid development of photovoltaic (PV) power generation has led to a growing issue of waste PV module disposal. Traditional recycling methods face challenges such as low efficiency, high energy consumption, and environmental pollution. Flash Joule heating (FJH) technology offers a promising alternative for upcycling waste PV cells. Here, FJH was adopted to produce silicon carbide (SiC) from waste crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV cells that were pulverized and mixed with conductive carbon black (CB). Optimal reaction efficiency was achieved with an input voltage of 130 V and a peak temperature of ~2200 °C during a single flash heating cycle of 0.5 s. Repeated FJH and regrinding steps resulted in high purity SiC (>98%) after removal of excess carbon through calcination; most inorganic impurities elements were removed by evaporated during the heating process. Flash-heated product is a promising anode material, and FJH consumes significantly less energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases than alternative chemical or thermal technologies, resulting in a notable cost reduction.","PeriodicalId":72,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environmental Science","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Energy & Environmental Science","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ee01509j","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
As global demand for clean energy increases, the rapid development of photovoltaic (PV) power generation has led to a growing issue of waste PV module disposal. Traditional recycling methods face challenges such as low efficiency, high energy consumption, and environmental pollution. Flash Joule heating (FJH) technology offers a promising alternative for upcycling waste PV cells. Here, FJH was adopted to produce silicon carbide (SiC) from waste crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV cells that were pulverized and mixed with conductive carbon black (CB). Optimal reaction efficiency was achieved with an input voltage of 130 V and a peak temperature of ~2200 °C during a single flash heating cycle of 0.5 s. Repeated FJH and regrinding steps resulted in high purity SiC (>98%) after removal of excess carbon through calcination; most inorganic impurities elements were removed by evaporated during the heating process. Flash-heated product is a promising anode material, and FJH consumes significantly less energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases than alternative chemical or thermal technologies, resulting in a notable cost reduction.
期刊介绍:
Energy & Environmental Science, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, publishes original research and review articles covering interdisciplinary topics in the (bio)chemical and (bio)physical sciences, as well as chemical engineering disciplines. Published monthly by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), a not-for-profit publisher, Energy & Environmental Science is recognized as a leading journal. It boasts an impressive impact factor of 8.500 as of 2009, ranking 8th among 140 journals in the category "Chemistry, Multidisciplinary," second among 71 journals in "Energy & Fuels," second among 128 journals in "Engineering, Chemical," and first among 181 scientific journals in "Environmental Sciences."
Energy & Environmental Science publishes various types of articles, including Research Papers (original scientific work), Review Articles, Perspectives, and Minireviews (feature review-type articles of broad interest), Communications (original scientific work of an urgent nature), Opinions (personal, often speculative viewpoints or hypotheses on current topics), and Analysis Articles (in-depth examination of energy-related issues).