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Yes, DMSO has been studied for recovering valuable materials from electronics—but it is not a universal metal-extraction solvent or a ready-to-use recycling recipe. Researchers have used it in three distinct ways: to separate layers of waste printed circuit boards, as part of a copper-halide system for precious-metal recovery, and to remove binder and electrolyte residues from lithium-ion battery black mass. Each approach treats a different feedstock and produces a different result.
Three different recycling jobs—not one DMSO process
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) appears in several research paths, but the chemistry and target depend on the material being processed. In one, DMSO swells or dissolves brominated epoxy resin so printed-circuit-board layers can be separated. In another, DMSO is combined with copper halides and salts to dissolve precious metals, which are then precipitated using water. A third application treats nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery black mass to remove PVDF binder and electrolyte residues before further processing.
| Feedstock | What the process targets | Reported outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) | Brominated epoxy resin; delamination of the board | Separated copper foil and glass fibers |
| Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) | Precious and rare metals in a DMSO- or propylene-carbonate-based copper-halide system | Gold recovery by precipitation with water; tin interference required pretreatment in the reported WEEE application |
| End-of-life NMC battery black mass | PVDF binder and electrolyte residues | Fluoride removal to prepare material for downstream processing |
How DMSO separates printed circuit boards
Waste printed circuit boards contain copper, glass fibers, and resin-bound layers. Ping Zhu and colleagues reported that DMSO can act on brominated epoxy resin, helping separate the board into material fractions. The result is delamination—not extraction of every metal from the board. Their study reported recovered copper foil and glass fibers, and characterized the remaining residues as brominated epoxy resins. The paper also describes regenerating DMSO by rotary decompression evaporation.
The reported outcomes varied with fragment size and experimental conditions. These values describe the 2013 laboratory experiment, not recommended operating instructions:
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- For fragments of 1–1.5 cm², delamination was reported at 60 °C after 45 minutes; complete separation in the reported experiment took 210 minutes.
- For larger fragments of 2–3 cm², complete separation required 90 °C.
- At 135 °C, treatment removed liquid photo solder resist from copper-foil surfaces.
- Increasing temperature shortened separation time in the experiment.
The study’s abstract presents the approach as a way to prevent environmental pollution, but that is not a comparative lifecycle assessment. The available findings do not establish the overall environmental impact of the process across solvent recovery, energy use, residues, and waste treatment.
How copper-halide systems use DMSO to recover precious metals
A 2016 Japan Ministry of the Environment project report describes a different use of DMSO. In the reported solvent system, DMSO—or, in some experiments, propylene carbonate—contained copper bromide or copper chloride and additional halide salts. The system dissolved precious and rare metals, which were then precipitated by adding water. The report’s English summary gives gold recovery of up to 94% by water precipitation. That is a result for the studied system, not a general recovery rate for e-waste or a result attributable to DMSO alone.
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Solder can complicate this approach: the report says other metals, especially tin, reduced the amount of gold dissolved and precipitated. Pretreatment was therefore necessary for the described WEEE application. In its demonstration, the report describes thermal pretreatment with TiO₂ in air at 773 K. That is a condition in the project report, not a consumer procedure.
How DMSO pretreatment differs for lithium-ion battery black mass
A 2026 study by Mettke, Müller, and Yagmurlu evaluates DMSO as a non-thermal pretreatment for end-of-life NMC battery black mass. Its target is PVDF binder and electrolyte residues—not gold or other precious metals from circuit boards. The goal is to prepare the material for subsequent processes such as flotation or acid leaching.
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For the tested material and laboratory setup, the study reports 89.46% fluoride removal at a solid-to-liquid ratio of 100 g/L, 80 °C, and 30 minutes. A subsequent water-leaching step raised cumulative removal to 95.27% in the abstract. The study highlights report up to 96.86% fluorine removal across the investigated results. These figures describe different reported outcomes and should not be treated as interchangeable. The authors also report that their method did not additionally impact the valuable transition-metal content (Ni, Co, Mn) under the tested conditions.
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What the findings do—and do not—establish
- They establish distinct laboratory applications. PCB delamination, precious-metal leaching, and battery black-mass pretreatment are separate processes with different feedstocks, additives, and outputs.
- They do not establish a safe DIY method. The reported systems involve heated solvents, chemical additives, contaminated electronics or battery materials, separation steps, and solvent recovery. The cited sources do not provide a validated consumer-safe procedure.
- They do not establish commercial-scale readiness. The reviewed studies and report do not demonstrate that these processes are validated at commercial scale.
- They do not identify one best process for all electronics. The appropriate research path depends on whether the goal is to separate a circuit board, recover precious metals, or remove residues from battery black mass.
Sources
- Zhu P, Chen Y, Wang L, Qian G, Zhang WJ, Zhou M, Zhou J, “Dissolution of brominated epoxy resins by dimethyl sulfoxide to separate waste printed circuit boards,” Environmental Science & Technology, 2013. PubMed abstract.
- Japan Ministry of the Environment, “Development of Recycling System of Precious and Rare Metals from Waste Electric and Electronic Equipments Using Organic solvents containing Copper Bromide,” project report, 2016. Project report (PDF).
- Mettke LN, Müller M, Yagmurlu B, “Non-thermal pretreatment in battery recycling: Dimethyl-sulfoxide leaching of NMC black mass for effective PVDF removal and recovery,” Journal of Power Sources Advances, 2026. Article.
- Niu B, E S, Song Q, Xu Z, Han B, et al., “Physicochemical reactions in e-waste recycling,” Nature Reviews Chemistry, 2024. Article.
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