Silicon Recovery from Kerf Slurry Waste: a Review of Current Status and Perspective

Over the past years, the photovoltaics (PV) industry has been experiencing a strong economic growth worldwide. This development is due to an increasing demand for PV modules which is anticipated to continue in the coming years. The dominant semiconductor material used in the PV industry is silicon. A major portion of the silicon is wasted in the PV industry. The recovery and recycling of high-purity silicon from kerf slurry waste will be of steadily increasing importance in the coming years. Therefore, the focus has to be set on the detection of potentially usable secondary resources and the development of inexpensive and energy-saving processes to recover the silicon from kerf slurry waste. In this literature review, emphasis is put on the recycling and refining of silicon for reuse in the PV industry. This review paper gives an insight into recently published scientific articles in which the valorization of kerf slurry waste has been studied.