Abstract
Indium is a rare and critical metal which concentration in the earth’s crust is equal to 1/6 of that of gold. It is mainly used in form of oxides to produce flat panel displays and has also found applications in photovoltaic panels. There is no specific mineral for this metal, and it is associated with base metals such as zinc and lead. Considering growing display panels and solar panel technologies, a constant increase in demand for indium has been projected. In addition, limited primary resources make the recycling of indium from electronic wastes and industrial residues imperative. Knowledge of thermodynamics is of significance for maximizing the indium recovery rate and reduction of the process residues from the primary production, and the design and development of environmentally neutral and economically viable recycling processes. However, the relevant thermodynamic data of indium-containing systems are inadequate or missing in the literature. The present work, therefore, focuses on developing new and key thermodynamic data for indium oxide-containing systems. As part of larger thermodynamic database development, the preliminary results of thermodynamic modeling and assessment of the In2O3–ZnO–PbO system are presented in this work.