Determination of Metal ions Concentrations in Leached Electronic Wastes Using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Abstract

Electronic wastes such as radio panel, computer adapter, digital video disc (DVD) power, television (TV) panel, half TV panel, light emitting diode (LED) board, screen board, laptop adapter, laptop batteries and mobile phone batteries, obtained from electronic shops and dumpsites in Computer Village, Ogbunabali, Port Harcourt, Nigeria were mechanically dismantled, crushed to reduce the size, incinerated using a blacksmith flame, ground in a ceramic mortar to obtain 1-2 mm size range particle size, sieved and leached with aqua regia (3HCl:1HNO 3 ), H 2 SO 4, and H 2 O 2 Thereafter, the metal ions concentrations found in the leached raw e-wastes were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The AAS results showed high concentration of Pb (10,875.000 ppm) in all the e-waste samples while Li had the least (0.0549 ppm). Therefore, Pb was discovered to be the most prominent metal in e-waste components. The leaching processes could be used to recover valuable resources and mitigate environmental pollution

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