Efficient Chemistry

Typical chemical processes for the production of polysilicon require the use of hydrogen and chlorine gasses. Silicon reactions create compounds that can be purified through distillation and subsequent separation of the silicon. These processes inherently require high pressures with limited chemical efficiencies. In addition, there are multiple chemical byproducts that need to be recycled and recovered. This inefficient silicon-chlorine-hydrogen chemistry causes additional capital cost and operational cost.

On the other hand, iodine operates at normal atmospheric pressures and combines efficiently with silicon. Nearly the only output is SiI4, a molecule that can be distilled from impurities, and then the reaction can be reversed to produce pure silicon:

Iosil’s innovation with this iodine-silicon chemistry has resulted in much less capital requirements for processing, much higher yields and lower manufacturing costs. This gives Iosil an advantage in achieving cost effective production of silicon even from saw kerf waste.