Technology Overview
Full Recycling of High-Value SiC Wafer Cutting Slurry technology achieves the high-value recycling of waste slurry.
Silicon carbide (SiC) wafers are cut from ingots using high-speed diamond grinding, which produces large amounts of slurry containing valuable diamond powder. Conventional recycling methods require strong acids, alkalis, toxic solvents, or high-temperature calcination, recovering only low-purity SiC and keeping process costs high.
Applications & Benefits
ITRI has developed a room-temperature fullrecycling process that selectively separates diamond and SiC through boundary-potential control and oilwater emulsion separation. Filtration membrane technology allows recovery of both diamond powder and the demulsifier from the emulsion layer with 99% purity, while SiC is collected from the aqueous phase with a 92% recovery rate and over 99% purity. Verified at 100-kg industrial scale, the recovered SiC can be reprocessed into ceramic components, and the diamond powder returned to the cutting process, resulting in high-value recycling, reduced costs, and minimized chemical use.