Recovery of Indium Tin Oxide Metals from Mobile Phone Screens Using Acidithiobacillus spp. Bacterial Culture

This study explores the bioleaching potential of indium from Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens originating from end-of-life mobile phones using Acidithiobacillus spp. The LCD panels were mechanically processed, including dismantling, crushing, and milling, and separated into four size fractions: <1 mm, 1–1.5 mm, 1.5–2 mm and >2 mm. These fractions were leached for a period of four weeks. During the experiment, changes in pH value were monitored, and the concentrations of indium in the solutions were measured by using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The results showed that the highest indium was detected after 4 weeks of leaching for fraction FG <1 mm (146.47 mg/L). The study confirms that bioleaching is an effective and environmentally friendly method for the recovery of critical raw materials such as indium from electronic waste, offering a promising alternative to conventional chemical and pyrometallurgical techniques.