Recent approaches towards e-waste printed circuit boards for Nanoparticle synthesis: a review

ABSTRACT

Electronic waste generation and accumulation keeps on increasing and possess a serious threat to the environment. To find a legitimate or suitable eco-friendly method for metal recovery from e-waste this includes the noble metals, rare earth metals and also the heavy metals. Methods like magnetic separation, Eddy current separation and Electrostatic separation results in separation of metallic parts from the crushed e-waste and its PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards). For synthesising nanoparticles out of the recovered metallic parts, pyrometallurgy using Tubular furnace, hydrometallurgical methods, cryo-milling techniques and bio-approaches using plant leaf are utilised. Heavy metal in Electronic waste plays a vital role in polluting the ecology/environment. Researchers are trying to enhance the metal recovery from e-waste process by improving the environmentally friendly approaches. In this review, harmless to the ecosystem draws near and the techniques that depicts about the Nanoparticle synthesis from electronic waste printed circuit boards are critically reviewed.

KEYWORDS:

• E-waste (electronic waste)
• nanoparticle synthesis
• eco-friendly methods
• leaf extract
• cryo-milling technique
• tubular furnace

Acknowledgments

We would like to convey our sincere thanks to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Government of India – NDF scheme (2019 batch) for providing us research fellowship in Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and publication of this article from any funding agency.