Combinatorial Separation of Cd and Te from CdTe via Chemical Vapour Transport with Sulfur and Air/Methane Treatment for the Recovery of Critical Resources from Thin Film Solar Cells.

Elemental Te and Cd are successfully recovered from CdTe via a combinatorial process involving chemical vapor transport (CVT) using sulfur as transport agent giving elemental Te being deposited. Separation is successfully enabled by the first process for CVT of Te starting with CdTe. Cd is subsequently recovered by an oxidation of the formed CdS to CdO followed by reduction to Cd metal with natural gas, in which Cd can also be separated via the gas phase.