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Researchers from Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, the University of Perugia, and the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) have developed a method to upcycle silicon from retired solar panels, according to a study published in Green Chemistry.
The team created a catalytic system using palladium nanoparticles supported on recovered silicon. In this setup, palladium drives the catalytic activity while the silicon serves as a stabilizing, reusable support. The catalyst is designed for cross-coupling reactions commonly used in pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.
To prepare the material, the researchers removed the front glass of discarded photovoltaic modules by heating to soften the ethylene-vinyl acetate encapsulant. The remaining layers were cut into pieces and treated with tetrahydrofuran at 60 degrees Celsius to separate the silicon cells. A two-step chemical leaching process followed: sodium hydroxide dissolved the aluminum back contact, and nitric acid removed the silver finger contacts. After washing and heat treatment at 500 degrees Celsius, the purified silicon was ball-milled into a fine powder with 86 percent purity. The powder was suspended in diethylene glycol, combined with a palladium precursor, and heated at 130 degrees Celsius under argon to form palladium nanoparticles on the silicon surface.
The recovered-silicon catalyst, named Pd/Si_EoLPV, was compared to a reference catalyst made from commercial metallurgical-grade silicon powder. Analysis showed that the recycled material delivered performance comparable to the commercial-silicon catalyst. It remained stable over six consecutive reaction cycles, with palladium leaching below 3 parts per million. This corresponded to a turnover number of 5,820 and a turnover frequency of 582 per hour.
On a gram scale, the catalyst was used across five recycling cycles, yielding 48.5 millimoles of product with a 97 percent isolated yield and an E-factor of 9. The catalyst was also applied to the synthesis of 22 substrates from various iodoarenes and olefins, including intermediates relevant to rilpivirine, Lp-PLA2 inhibitors, and methyl-2-ferulates.
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