Development of recycling technology to recover valuable metals from lithium primary and ion batteries

Abstract

This study focused on a newly proposed recycling process to recover electrodic powder enriched in cobalt (Co) and lithium (Li) from spent lithium primary and ion batteries. In addition, this new process was designed to prevent the explosion of batteries during thermal treatment under an inert atmosphere. Spent lithium mixed batteries were heated over the range of 300°C to 600°C for 2 h, and each component was completely separated inside the reactor after the experiment. Electrodic powder was successfully recovered from the bulk components through sieving; the powder contained several pieces of metals. The electrodic powder obtained was examined using X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Additionally, an image of the powder was taken using scanning electron microscopy. The cobalt and lithium were mainly recovered at approximately 32-35 wt% and 3-5 wt% in the electrodic powder, respectively.

Sustainable recovery of valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries using DL-malic acid: Leaching and kinetics aspect

“…Many methods have been developed for recycling spent LIBs, including pyrometallurgy, biological, and hydrometallurgy processes (Joo et al, 2015; Lee and Pandey, 2012; Zeng et al, 2014). Compared with other processes, the hydrometallurgy process is considered an ideal route due to lower energy consumption, higher recovery efficiency, and purity of metals (Chen et al, 2015c).…”

Recycling and environmental issues of lithium-ion batteries: Advances, challenges and opportunities

“…Considering the safety risks associated with the possibility of battery explosion during the recycling processes, some authors have proposed a method that prevents explosion during thermal treatments. This technique needs the use of a electric furnace with SiC heater in a temperature range of 300-600 °C for 2 hours, where it is possible to treat the wasted batteries under an inert argon atmosphere, leading to the safe recovery of electrode powders (32-35 wt.% for Co and 3-5 wt.% for Li) by further chemical leaching [146].…”

Lithium‐based batteries, history, current status, challenges, and future perspectives

“…For instance, single use primary batteries generate large quantities of unrecyclable waste materials and toxic materials. And critically, when disposed of, the toxic materials initially contained within the battery escape into the surrounding environment 66–69 . Importantly, because of the problematic issues associated with the disposal of primary and rechargeable Li‐ion batteries, strategies for reducing their environmental impact by recycling has attracted considerable interest in recent years.…”

“…And critically, when disposed of, the toxic materials initially contained within the battery escape into the surrounding environment. [66][67][68][69] Importantly, because of the problematic issues associated with the disposal of primary and rechargeable Li-ion batteries, strategies for reducing their environmental impact by recycling has attracted considerable interest in recent years. Methods currently used to recycle electro-active materials is discussed later in Section 5.4.2.…”