Recovery of Gallium from Ionic Liquids (ReGaIL)

Recovery of Gallium from Ionic Liquids (ReGail) aims to develop a recovery process of Gallium from bulk sourced end-of-life (EoL) LEDs to supply the uptake of Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductors in power electronics, machines, and drives (PEMD). The work in developing this EoL process will also lay the foundation for upscaling EoL recovery of GaN in PEMD.

GaN is mostly used in LEDs but are increasingly being adopted by PEMD due to their superior qualities as semiconductors compared to its silicon counterpart. GaN has a wider band gap, switches faster, loses less heat and takes up less space. These qualities make it very desirable as a transistor for all sectors of interest (aerospace, automotive, energy, industrial drives and robotics, maritime, off highway, and rail), making it a desirable material to urban mine and build a UK supply chain for.

The innovation is to create a circular sourced supply chain of Gallium in the UK. Building on established recycling methods and expanding it to encompass bulk sourced EoL LEDs. The recovered Gallium will then be used in new GaN transistors for PEMD, creating a sustainable supply chain, avoiding virgin mining, increasing the UK's supply chain resilience, and laying the foundation for establishing the EoL recycling process for PEMD.

The project will analyse the current gallium recycling and LED end of life practices, will subsequently optimise the pre-treatment, demonstrate electroplating, and simulate the entire process. The impact of the process will be assessed with recommendations and a business plan provided. The findings will then be exploited and disseminated by a professional association.