Electrocatalytic Formation and Inactivation of Intermetallic Compounds in Electrorefining of Silicon

Silicon for solar cell purposes is today produced by an energy intensive process exhibiting high irreversible thermodynamic energy losses. The purity of the product; 99,9999999 pct (9N), far exceeds what is generally accepted to be the requirements for photovoltaic purposes (4-6N). According to thermodynamics, all elements except boron may be removed from silicon by three layer electrochemical refining above the melting point of Si. Boron, on the other hand, shows higher affinity to specific transition metals compared to silicon. This may be exploited by applying two principles in parallel; electrochemical refining and electrocatalyzed reaction-precipitation of transition metal borides as heavy, stable particles. In this study we report on the formation of such compounds at the cathode-electrolyte interface during electrochemical refining. The trends and mechanisms observed in the laboratory scale investigation indicate that high purity silicon may be produced in industrial scale reactors at low cost- and energy intensity.