Silicon scrap

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samuel-a

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Messages
2,190
Does anyone here had experiance with selling bulk Silicon scrap?
I have been offered solar grade wafers and wondering what can i do with it.

Silver content is negliable btw.

Thanks.
 
From what I understand, most of the silver is in the bonding wires,
and there is a smaller amount in a thin film in the panel,
almost not worth the effort to extract.

I do not know where silicon is worth much.
I have found chunks of synthetic silicon ore on railroad tracks.
I have to assume it is not worth much unless in the amount of tonnage.
 
Sam,

If the wafers are just pure silicon, with no circuitry on them, maybe, but I doubt it. I think the silicon is made from silica sand. The silicon is quite pure. I seem to remember reading that they can produce 12 - 9's (99.9999999999%) pure silicon. Whether that is routine or just what is possible, I don't know.
 
Rather it was the "nine nines" purity.

It's produced by the Czochralski process; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czochralski_process

It's a method of crystal growth used to obtain single crystals for use as semiconductors.

Apparently metals (e.g. palladium, platinum, silver, gold), salts and synthetic gemstones can also be produced with a very high purity.
 
Those metals are usually done via zone refining (mostly on metals with low thermal conductivity).

Hallmark of a zone refined ingot is the accordion-like riffling on the surface. Very rare to see zone refined Au/Ag. More likely to see Pd/Pt/Rh that way.
 
I've seen mostly zone refined Germanium, Hafnium and Rhenium

The rest is pretty rare to come by.
 
Here is a link where you can enjoy pictures of almost all the elements, Especially the precious ones. :mrgreen:

http://www.periodictable.ru/index_en.html

I've noticed Platinum and Palladium crystals, Are these native ones or electrolytically grown?

After a search I stumbeld over a very interesting Scientific Paper! it's called "Preparation of chlorplatinic acid by electrolysis of platinum black" it's only a few pages.

It might not be related to the crystals but I think is quite a feat!

https://archive.org/details/prepar436536719088282webe
 
samuel-a said:
Does anyone here had experiance with selling bulk Silicon scrap?
I have been offered solar grade wafers and wondering what can i do with it.
Silicon is used by the military as an ingredient in microsecond delays (fuses) for weaponry. I think the other main ingredient is red lead, if I remember correctly. Anyway, purity is not so critical in this application.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I did find some dealers in the US who claim they buy Silicon scrap (solar and electronics grade), but never received an answer. So, ended up refusing the deal.
 
Hey guys any idea how to extract or remove silicom from silicon dioxide?? I have silica sand (SIO2) and I want to remove silicon not 100 but atleast 97 or 98%. I am not sure if this question should be asked in this forum and I know very complicated chemistry is involved to remove it but just want to know if anyone has ever tried it or anyone got any idea to remove silicon.

Thank you
 
arsenic123 said:
Hey guys any idea how to extract or remove silicom from silicon dioxide?? I have silica sand (SIO2) and I want to remove silicon not 100 but atleast 97 or 98%. I am not sure if this question should be asked in this forum and I know very complicated chemistry is involved to remove it but just want to know if anyone has ever tried it or anyone got any idea to remove silicon.

Thank you
I hate to be nitpicky, but silicon dioxide is SiO2. SIO2 would be a combination of sulfur, iodine and oxygen.

I'm wondering what your goal is in removing silicon from silicon dioxide. If you remove the silicon, you're left with oxygen. If we understand what you're trying to achieve, we may be able to provide some advice.

Dave
 
FrugalRefiner said:
arsenic123 said:
Hey guys any idea how to extract or remove silicom from silicon dioxide?? I have silica sand (SIO2) and I want to remove silicon not 100 but atleast 97 or 98%. I am not sure if this question should be asked in this forum and I know very complicated chemistry is involved to remove it but just want to know if anyone has ever tried it or anyone got any idea to remove silicon.

Thank you
I hate to be nitpicky, but silicon dioxide is SiO2. SIO2 would be a combination of sulfur, iodine and oxygen.

I'm wondering what your goal is in removing silicon from silicon dioxide. If you remove the silicon, you're left with oxygen. If we understand what you're trying to achieve, we may be able to provide some advice.

Dave

Thank you for the reply. Basically sio2 contain oxides so I want pure silicon i.e silicon from silicon dioxide. The pure silicon can then be use for any purpose or even selling pure silicon you can say. :)

Thank you for the reply.
 
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