Thermal Recovery of Functional Coatings (TReFCo)

当电脑、智能手机和电池等设备被送去回收时，并不是所有的材料都被收集起来用于新设备。这些金属最有可能被回收利用，因为它们易于分离，而且它们的回收方法已经确立。专业涂料通常由稀有和昂贵的材料制成，使我们的现代电子产品能够工作。然而，当涉及到回收时，这些涂层经常会引起问题，它们可能意味着金属受到更多的污染，因此这些涂层经常被烧毁，造成污染并增加回收过程的成本。这也意味着昂贵的精心设计的涂层已经丢失，其价值没有实现。TReFCo的目标是开发一种低成本的方法来去除这些涂层，这样它们就可以重复使用来制造新设备。这将带来多重好处；这将意味着有价值的原材料保留在供应链中，支持英国经济。这也意味着涂层材料在回收过程之前更清洁，确保以更低的成本获得更纯净的回收产品。TReFCo采用的方法是将涂层置于近红外辐射下，在不损坏涂层材料或基材的情况下燃烧固定涂层的粘合剂（胶水）。TReFCo还将开发新的粘合剂，当暴露在近红外辐射下时，这种粘合剂会“解胶”，从而使设备在回收之前更容易（也更便宜）地拆开。这也可以在维修过程中使用。除了项目期间的技术发展外，还将进行生命周期分析，这将确保研究人员充分了解生产材料和回收材料的环境成本。识别任何对环境有害的区域，以便通过材料设计或改变加工方法来避免它们。该项目的所有目标都是使真正的循环经济的可能性更接近现实。

When devices such as computers, smart phones and batteries are sent for recycling not all of the materials are captured for use in new devices. The metals are most likely to be recycled because they are easy to separate and their methods of recycling are well established. Specialist coatings often made with rare and expensive materials enable our modern electronics to work. However these coatings often cause problems when it comes to recycling, they can mean that the metals are more contaminated and so these coatings are often burnt off, causing pollution and adding cost to the recycling process. It also means that the expensive cleverly engineered coating has been lost and its value not realised.TReFCo aims to develop a low cost method for removing these coatings so that they can be reused to make new devices. This will have multiple benefits; it will mean that valuable raw materials are kept within the supply chain, supporting the UK economy. It will also mean that the materials that they were coated on are cleaner prior to their recycling process ensuring a purer recycled product at a lower cost. The method employed by TReFCo will be to subject the coatings to near infrared radiation to burn the binder (glue) that holds the coating in place without damaging the coating material or the substrate material. TReFCo will also develop new adhesives that will 'unglue' when exposed to near infrared radiation, making it easier (and cheaper) to take devices apart before they are recycled. This could also be used within a repair process.In addition to the technical developments during the project a lifecycle analysis will be undertaken - this will ensure that researchers fully understand the environmental costs of producing materials and recycling them. Identifying any areas that are environmentally damaging in order that they can be avoided by material design or by changing the processing methods. In all the aim of the project is to make the possibility of a truly circular economy one step closer to being a reality.