TANAKA Introduces Revolutionary New Method for Recovering Precious Metals from Vacuum Film Formation Equipment Components
With a commitment to developing sustainable supply systems by 2025, TANAKA Precious Metals is proud to announce the launch of TANAKA Green Shield. This innovative method of jig cleaning has been designed to promote the recycling of limited precious metal resources and further contribute to building a circular economy.
TOKYO, Jan 31, 2024 – (JCN Newswire) - TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Group CEO: Koichiro Tanaka) is at the forefront of industrial precious metals products, and their latest innovation aims to make a significant impact. The company has developed the TANAKA Green Shield method, which features nickel plating on the adhesion-preventing plate[1]. This component is a crucial part of vacuum film formation equipment[2] used in semiconductor manufacturing and other processes. Thanks to the nickel-plated adhesion-preventing plate, PGM[3] sputtered films, including platinum and palladium, can now be easily detached from the plate.
TANAKA is also leading the way in recycling with this method. After detaching sputtered films from components, mainly made from stainless steel, of vacuum film formation equipment such as sputtering and vacuum deposition equipment, the recovered precious metals are refined and returned to the customer, along with precision-cleaned components.
This groundbreaking cleaning method utilizes TANAKA technology related to base plating. Nickel plating of an adhesion-preventing plate allows PGM sputtered films to be detached through chemical treatment without causing damage to the base material. This method is expected to reduce the amount of cleaning agent required when cleaning equipment, thus leading to reduced environmental impact. Additionally, it aims to achieve higher PGM recovery rates with lower costs by reducing recovery loss of precious metals scattered around during the grinding process.
The goal for TANAKA is to develop the TANAKA Green Shield system to support a wide variety of component shapes and sizes and to expand PGM film recovery rates by six times the current level by 2025.
TANAKA Green Shield jig cleaning process
Jig Cleaning Method
There are multiple jig cleaning methods for vacuum film formation equipment components. For instance, physical detachment (blast cleaning) and thermal sprayed aluminum-based film formation are common methods used for this purpose. Currently, physical detachment is widely favored due to its low cost. However, the use of abrasive agents often damages the surface of the base material, resulting in a reduced lifetime of the material and precious metal recovery losses. Another approach, thermal sprayed aluminum-based film formation, also poses challenges in recovering adhered film from surfaces lacking an aluminum coating.