• Sia, Chee Kiong
• Nor, Nik Hisyamudin Muhd
• Ismail, Al Emran
• Seiji, Yokoyama
• Jaibee, Shafizan
• Burhan, Mohd Hafiz
• Ahmad, Zulkifli
• Mohamad, Fariza
• Nathan, Thirumoorthy

Abstract

Huge amount of waste electrical and electronic equipments (WEEE) or electronic waste (E-waste) has been produced every year in the world. It consists of valuable and hazardous metals that can be reused or extracted to minimize the environmental impact. This study is focusing on the investigation of recycling potential of e-waste through manual dismantling process and leaching test. The leaching test was conducted by changing the initial pH with constant stirring speed, constant water-sample ratio and in open air. The morphological structures of the solid samples were observed by SEM and the liquid residue was analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). It was found that total time required to dismantle all parts in the waste motor is about 10 minutes and the part that required longest dismantling time was armature windings. The metal elements that were observed are Fe, Mg, Pb and Cr. It was found that the pH of the solution increased with the increasing leaching time. The dissolution of Fe and Pb was high in the early stage of leaching but gradually decreased afterward. The dissolution for Mg and Cr was low throughout the leaching process. It was revealed that the metal elements in e-waste can be dissolved using this method and further investigation to increase the dissolution rate is required to ensure that the method proposed is applicable in industry. However, dissolved concentration of Pb must be controlled to ensure that it follows the permissible amount set under environmental standard.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• scanning electron microscopy
• leaching
• atomic absorpion spectrometry