From Swelling EVA to Fuel Utilization: A Full-Cycle Strategy for Organic Solvents Used in Hydrometallurgy Decapsulation of Waste Photovoltaic Laminates

The amount of end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) modules is increasing year by year, making their proper disposal and recovery an urgent environmental and social issue. PV laminates contain approximately 80% of the valuable components of the module. Removing the adhesive property of the EVA film to separate the components is a crucial step in the recycling process. Existing studies of hydrometallurgy decapsulation neglected the state changes of organic solvents during the decapsulation process and their waste disposal. This study utilizes dimethyl malonate (DMM), ethylene glycol diacetate (EGD), and N,N-dimethylpropenyl urea (DMPU) for decapsulation of PV laminates. Results show that DMM and EGD weaken adhesion by causing EVA swelling. DMPU undergoes a grafting reaction with EVA, efficiently separating the laminate by disrupting the EVA cross-linking structure. The solvents do not cause metal leaching during the decapsulation process, and their concentration is below environmental limits. Finally, we proposed a strategy for the classified recycling of waste organic solutions. This study provides a theoretical and technical basis for the green decapsulation of PV laminates and the full-cycle resource utilization of organic solvents.