A Novel Approach to Manufacturing an Antioxidant Material, GT-Ag@MSN, Using Recycled Silver and Silicon from Scrapped Photovoltaic Panels

Jia Wen (), Qing Yue, Zhifei Qi, Zhixuan Gong and Yujiao Ba
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Jia Wen: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Qing Yue: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Zhifei Qi: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Zhixuan Gong: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Yujiao Ba: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: This study developed a microporous silica nanosilver antioxidant material (GT-Ag@MSN) from waste photovoltaic (PV) cells by incorporating plant polyphenols in the in situ synthesis. The biosynthesized GT-Ag@MSN had an average size of 296.5 nm, a pore size of 1.96 nm, and an Ag loading of 1.45%. The material was further evaluated through antibacterial tests, antioxidant capacity tests, and a reducing power assay. GT-Ag@MSN exhibited a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 20 mg/mL for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus , and a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 50 mg/mL for both of them, which will need further efforts to improve the performance. However, GT-Ag@MSN exhibited a notable 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging ability of 74.7 ± 1.6% at a concentration of 250 μg/mL, and its reducing power in the range of 10–100 mg was greater than that of ascorbic acid at 10–100 μg/mL. This study proposes a new waste-to-wealth strategy that utilizes purified silicon and silver from recycling used PV modules, encouraging the advancement of PV waste recycling and reuse technology.

Keywords: scrapped PV panel; MSN; Ag NPs; antibacterial; antioxidant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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