Efficient recovery of aluminum from saline slag wastes

This work presents the procedure to improve the aluminum extracted from a hazardous waste from the recycling

of aluminum, aluminum that could be used in the production of value-added materials, as well as with the

generation of non-hazardous waste. The aluminum waste was treated under reflux and stirring with NaOH

aqueous solutions taking into account two concentrations (1 and 2 mol/dm3), various times of extraction (1, 2

and 4 h) and 4th consecutive steps of extraction in order to obtain solutions with Al3+. The activation of the

waste by milling is also analyzed. After extraction, the solution is filtered to separate an aqueous solution that

contain the extracted Al3+ and a residual waste. A maximum of 7.54 g/dm3 of aluminum was extracted in the

first step, for a total accumulated of 9.59 g/dm3 of aluminum. The extracted aluminum can be used to synthesize

added-value products applied as adsorbents and catalysts. Finally, the residual waste generated was characterized

by N2 adsorption at −196 °C, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, energy-dispersive X-ray and

scanning electron microscopy in order to apply it as in future works adsorbent or catalyst.