Finding green and profitable recovery methods has always
been a
great challenge for Li/Co recovery from LiCoO2 (LCO) in
waste lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). A top priority was specially proposed
on energy and material consumptions for the industrialization of carbothermal
technology from an economic point of view. Meanwhile, pollution caused
by plastic wastes including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics has
already become a serious environmental issue. Therefore, in this study,
we proposed a PVC–LCO synergetic pyrolysis strategy for Li/Co
recovery. Results showed that the LiCoO2 was fully destructed
to Li2CO3, CoO, Co, and Cl-containing salts
at 450 °C for 90 min with a PVC/LCO mass ratio of 1:1. The reaction
temperature was decreased significantly in comparison to the ever-reported
values of the carbothermal technology. High-purity Li and Co were
then separated simply by water leaching, with a recovery rate of 92.50
and 94.85%, respectively. Simultaneous thermogravimetric–mass
analysis, thermodynamic analysis, and density functional theory revealed
the reaction mechanisms as three-stage PVC cracking together with
Li/Co–Cl bond formation after Cl adsorption on surface Li/Co
of LCO. Overall, the PVC synergetic pyrolysis strategy possessed distinct
advantages owing to the remarkable energy-conserving and chemical-free
features and provided an economical, green, and scalable solution
for LIB recycle.