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A Review of Slag Refining of Crude Silicon

  • Silicon Production, Refining, Properties, and Photovoltaics
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Abstract

Metallurgical refining of crude silicon for low-cost, mass production of solar silicon has been studied extensively over the past two decades. One of the methods attempted to target the deleterious impurities of Si is slag refining, where liquid Si or its alloys are treated with a flux. This article presents an overview of the impurity response to various slag treatment conditions for crude Si metal from both fundamental and practical perspectives, aiming to provide a basis for the design and application of more effective fluxes and alloys. It was found that removal of B and P through slag refining alone is not practical on an industrial scale as it would require a large volume of slag, however the removal percentage can be significantly increased if the silicon has been alloyed with a suitable metal.

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Funding

This study was funded by MITACS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3E4, Canada

    Sridevi Thomas, Liuqing Huang & Mansoor Barati

  2. Fujian Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People’s Republic of China

    Liuqing Huang

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  1. Sridevi Thomas
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  2. Liuqing Huang
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Correspondence to Sridevi Thomas.

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Thomas, S., Huang, L. & Barati, M. A Review of Slag Refining of Crude Silicon. JOM 73, 260–281 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-020-04470-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-020-04470-4

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