A new study recently published shows that silicon, which plays an important role in solar panels, can actually exert unexpected effects in lithium batteries. Prior to this, despite the positive sunlight in the photovoltaic industry, it has received a lot of criticism in environmental recycling. Now, Australian scientists have thought of how to reuse one of the most difficult, but most valuable components-it is the semiconductor silicon material.

Some solar panel components are easier to recycle than others (data map, from Tesla)

The research team claims that a solar panel can serve 15 to 25 years. Although most of them are glass, metal and plastic, the silicon element is not so easy to extract and reuse.

Each photovoltaic panel uses very little silicon, but experts predict that by 2050, we will generate 5 million tons of photovoltaic panel waste. In view of this, the pursuit of a comprehensive recycling strategy is well worth considering.

As the material responsible for converting solar energy into electronics, silicon plays a vital role in photovoltaic panels, but its value may not stop there.

Materials scientists at Deakin University in Australia said they not only proposed a method of extracting and reusing it, but also proved its potential as an anode for high-energy batteries.

In an interview with New Atlas, Dr. Mokhlesur Rahman said: Some research groups from all over the world have been actively developing recycling processes to recover elements and components from waste photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Unfortunately, even though many elements have been recovered, no one has studied the conversion of silicon to nano-silicon after recycling and use it for the subsequent application of battery technology.

In view of this, Rahman and his research partner Professor Chen Chen proposed a technology that utilizes the electron transfer capabilities of waste silicon and regenerates it to new life.

In essence, this technology revolves around reducing silicon to nanoscale materials to suit lithium-ion battery applications. This process can give the material an irregular shape, but as Rahman explained, this may be a good thing.

Rahman pointed out: "It is speculated that the size and shape of the obtained nano-silicon material may not be uniform because of the morphological and structural defects that occur when nano-silicon is recovered through various steps."

However, this type of nano-silicon can provide more benefits than commercial nano-silicon. The uneven shape and size means that these silicon nanoparticles have more free space and additional porosity to promote electrolyte transport.

In this way, it can better adapt to the volume expansion and contraction occurring during the charge-discharge cycle of the lithium-ion battery. The researchers said that in the same space, its nano-silicon can achieve 10 times the energy storage of ordinary silicon.

According to the theory at this stage, this can bring more powerful lithium-ion batteries. However, preliminary studies have shown that recycled silicon has at least the same performance as commercial silicon, providing a new way of recycling silicon materials.

It is reported that the current price of silicon material is about 44,000 Australian dollars (210,000 RMB) per kilogram, which is about 30,000 US dollars / 2.2 pounds.

Poly Solar Panel 260-290w

270W Solar Panel,270 Watt Solar Panel,275W Solar Panel,280W Polysilicon Solar Panel

Zhejiang G&P New Energy Technology Co.,Ltd , https://www.solarpanelgp.com