Results of copper and lead recovery from discarded printing circuit boards (PCB) by acidic dissolution and electrodeposition are presented. A preliminary procedure of the recovery process is proposed with the following steps: disposal of the mounted electrical elements, cleaning, grinding, iron separation for grains screening, metal dissolution, and electrolysis. | Journal of Science and Technology 55 (1B) (2017) 129–137 COPPER AND LEAD RECOVERY FROM DISCARDED PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS BY ELECTROLYSING LEACHED SOLUTION Tran Thi Phuong Thao1, *, Nguyen Trung Hai Thinh1, Ung Thai Le Anh1, Lam Nguyen Tuong Dao2, Tran Van Man1, 2, Nguyen Nhi Tru3 1 Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science – VNU HCM 227 Nguyen Van Cu Street, Ward 4, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 2 Laboratory of Applied Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science – VNUHCM, 227 Nguyen Van Cu Street, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 3 Department of Energy Materials and Applications, Faculty of Materials Technology, HCMUT – VNUHCM, 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam * Email: closefriend83@ Received: 30 December 2016; Accepted for publication: 3 March 2017 ABSTRACT Results of copper and lead recovery from discarded printing circuit boards (PCB) by acidic dissolution and electrodeposition are presented. A preliminary procedure of the recovery process is proposed with the following steps: disposal of the mounted electrical elements, cleaning, grinding, iron separation for grains screening, metal dissolution, and electrolysis. The composition analysis is performed to define suitable electrochemical parameters for recovery. XRF and AAS techniques are used for preliminary estimation of metal content in leached solution. LSV method is implemented to establish parameters for copper electrodeposition. The product quality is evaluated through XRD analysis. The high recovery efficiencies, and % for copper (in metallic form) and lead (in dioxide form), respectively, were reached. Keywords: printing circuit board, copper and lead recovery, dissolution, electrodeposition. 1. INTRODUCTION Due to the growing consumption of electronic devices and tendency of their shorter end– of–life, the modern world is facing a rapid accumulation of electronic wastes (e–waste). .
