Thermogravimetric study of the decomposition of printed circuit boards from mobile phones

Thermal decomposition of printed circuits boards (PCB) is studied, using thermogravimetric analysis to compare the thermal behavior of PCB of mobile phones before and after the removal of the metallic fraction by acid washing. Several dynamic and dynamic + isothermal runs have been carried out at different heating rates (5, 10 and 20 K min−1), from room temperature to more than 1100 K. Also runs in the presence and in the absence of oxygen were performed (combustion and pyrolysis runs).Moreover, TG–MS experiments were performed (both in inert and oxidizing atmosphere) in order to better understand the thermal decomposition of these wastes and identify some compounds emitted during the controlled heating of these materials.Different reaction models are proposed, one for pyrolysis and one for combustion of the two kinds of wastes studied, which proved to simulate appropriately the experimental results at all the heating rates simultaneously.

► TG analysis is used to compare printed circuit boards, before and after metal removal.
► Evolution of the main gaseous compounds is studied by TG–MS.
► Kinetic models are developed that correlate the data of dynamic and isothermal TG runs.