Separation and purification of Ag and Se via vacuum thermal decomposition-volatilization of Ag2Se

In this study, theoretical and experimental investigations of the green separation and purification of Ag and Se from Ag2Se are conducted under vacuum. The vacuum separation theory calculation results indicate that the vapor pressure of Se is significantly higher than those of Ag and Ag2Se. Furthermore, the separation coefficient of the Se-Ag binary system is in the range of 104–105, and the Se content in the vapor phase exceeds 99.99 wt%. In contrast, the theoretical calculation results of vacuum thermal decomposition show that Ag2Se decomposes to Se2 (g) and Ag (l) at 1326.74 and 1488.21 K when the pressures are 1 and 10 Pa, respectively. The vacuum separation and purification experiments demonstrate that the purity of Se in the volatiles reaches 97.22 wt% at 1523 K, 50 Pa, and 480 min, and the main phase is the pure Se phase. Moreover, the purity of Ag in the residue reaches 91.88 wt%, and the main phase is the pure Ag phase. The vacuum thermal decomposition-volatilization proposed in this study can achieve environmentally friendly, short separation and purification of Ag and Se in Ag2Se.