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Researchers in Russia have developed a two-stage method for converting discarded solar panels into silicon carbide, a silicon-carbon compound prized for its hardness, thermal conductivity and resistance to heat and corrosion. According to pv magazine, the process combines pyrolysis with vacuum-free plasma electric arc conversion to yield carbon residue, silicon carbide and synthesis gas that can be used for energy production.
The team worked with a decommissioned polycrystalline silicon solar panel, shredding it and pyrolyzing the material at 500 C under a continuous nitrogen flow to break down its polymer components and obtain a carbon-containing solid residue. Batches of roughly 2 g were then processed in a graphite crucible using a vacuum-free electric arc reactor that operated at 200 A for 60 seconds and reached temperatures above 1,800 C.
Different carbon additions were tested, with carbon black used to encourage the conversion of silicon-containing compounds into silicon carbide. The researchers compared those products against material treated directly in the electric arc reactor without prior pyrolysis. Electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis were used to assess morphology, crystalline composition and oxidation behavior.
Researcher Zhanar Bolatova said pyrolysis served several purposes at once, removing polymers that interfere with further processing, producing a solid carbon residue and collecting gaseous products. She said calculations put the average yield of carbon residue at 45.8% of the mass of the processed material.
Bolatova also reported that the maximum methane concentration in the gas mixture reached 5% by volume, while carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide concentrations were approximately 0.6%. She said compositional analysis confirmed the advantage of preliminary pyrolysis, noting that the iron silicide phase disappeared from the final product after this treatment, reducing unwanted impurities and increasing the proportion of the target silicon carbide.
The results showed that raising the carbon content of the starting mixture from 0% to 30% increased the proportion of silicon carbide in the solid product from 46% to 61%. The share of free silicon fell from 19.7% to 8.3%, while silicon dioxide declined from 3% to trace levels. The researchers said the additional carbon promoted the conversion of silicon into silicon carbide.
The process is described in a paper titled Stage Recycling of Solar Panels by Pyrolysis and Vacuum-free Electric Arc Conversion to Produce SiC, published in Silicon. The research team included scientists from Russia’s National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University and Sevastopol State University.
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