Silicon Waste from the Photovoltaic Industry - A Material Source for the Next Generation Battery Technology?

In the photovoltaic industry a total of 100,000 tons of silicon is lost as waste per year. This waste is originating from several cropping and sawing steps of the high purity silicon blocks and ingots during the solar cell wafer production, resulting in a silicon containing suspension. Among different approaches to recycle the silicon from this waste is the utilization of hydrocyclones, which can be used to separate or classify particles by weight and size. In this work the use of a hydrocyclone was evaluated to upgrade the silicon fraction from a typical sawing waste. A potential field of use for the recycled silicon particles might be as anode material for next generation lithium ion batteries.