Electrosynthesis of CuNPs from e-Waste

Currently, e-waste, such as integrated circuits or microprocessors, has been increasing, due to the development of new technologies that make them obsolete. Therefore, to minimize the impact of this type of waste and recover the valuable metals present in them. In this work, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were synthesized from e-waste by electrochemical techniques. The voltammetric studies were performed in a typical electrode cell of three electrodes, as a working electrode was used a stainless steel plate, as a counter electrode a dimensionally stable anode (DSA) and as a reference electrode a saturated calomel electrode (SCE). The voltammetric studies allowed to determine the interval attributed to the reduction of the ionic copper species, the chronopotentiometric studies allowed to obtain homogeneous deposits on the surface of the working electrode, which was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) showing a morphology spherical type with sizes between 5 and 13 nm. On the other hand the studies by the technique of galvanostatic pulses allowed the obtaining of CuNPs, which were characterized by SEM-EDS and UV-Vis spectroscopy.