Boron removal for solar-grade silicon production by metallurgical route: A review

Hui Chen, Kazuki Morita, Xiaodong Ma, Zhiyuan Chen, Ye Wang*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    60 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Solar energy has received considerable attention over the past few decades, due to its importance as a green and renewable energy. Low-cost solar-grade silicon production is critical for the widespread use of solar cells. Conventional routes (e.g., modified Siemens process: chlorosilane and hot filament) have still dominated the production of solar-grade silicon. The metallurgical route offers benefits in the productivity and cost, but efficient removal of boron is one of the most daunting challenges in front of us. This paper reviews thermodynamic and kinetic properties (solubility, diffusivity, diffusion coefficients, mass transfer rate, and activity coefficient) of boron and recent research topics (slag treatment, solvent refining, gas injection, plasma treatment, and acid leaching) for boron removal.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number110169
    Number of pages12
    JournalSolar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
    Volume203
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

    Keywords

    • Boron removal
    • Gas injection
    • Slag treatment
    • Solar-grade silicon
    • Solvent refining

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