Toxicity Identification and Evolution Mechanism of Thermolysis-Driven Gas Emissions from Cathodes of Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) typically contain a combination of both strategic materials and toxic chemicals that cannot be easily disposed. Nowadays, that are many different methods used to treat spent LIBs with the primary aim of critical metals recovery; nevertheless, as a result of the toxic chemicals within the battery waste, the chemical composition and potential danger of the off-gases generated during recycling process have become a serious concern. In an attempt to further understand the characteristics of the off-gases that are emitted from spent LIBs cathodes during thermolysis process, a system of thermogravimetry−differential thermal analysis coupled with mass spectrometry equipped with skimmer-type interface and with electron ionization (TG-DSC-EI-MS) has been employed to qualitatively analyze the generated off-gases. Based on the obtained observations, it was confirmed that inorganic gases of H 2 , H 2 O, CO 2 , gaseous hydrocarbons, and fluoride-containing gases were generated. Moreover, the off-gas species and relative yield of the individual gases formed were found to be significantly affected by the thermolysis temperature under different atmospheric conditions. From the combined results from TG-DSC-EI-MS, thermogravimetric differential scanning calorimetry analysis (TG-DSC), chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the correlation between the evolution characteristics of the gas emissions and thermolysis behavior of the cathodes from spent LIBs has been established. The availability of this type of quantitative data is useful when undertaking environmental assessments and for the design of off-gas management systems for spent LIBs recycling processes.

Comparative life cycle assessment of high performance lithium-sulfur battery cathodes

“…Contrarily, the use of heavy metals such as cobalt, manganese or nickel in Li–S batteries is not required, where cathodes use sulfur quantities as large as 70% by weight. This also leads to lower fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity and human toxicity potentials associated with Li–S batteries because LIBs rely on the use of toxic cathodes ( Chen et al., 2019 ). It should be also taken into account that usually, Li–S cathodes are obtained after the introduction of sulfur into a carbonaceous structure by efficient thermal infusion ( Pang et al., 2019 ), avoiding complex, expensive and environmentally harmful synthetic procedures typically of layered oxides used for LIBs and NIBs.…”

Early-Stage Recovery of Lithium from Tailored Thermal Conditioned Black Mass Part I: Mobilizing Lithium via Supercritical CO2-Carbonation

“…Firstly, a black mass is typically leached in mineral acid. For this purpose, it is beneficial to conduct the thermal pretreatment as described easing the dissolution process [26]. Here, Shin et al report the binder´s (polyvinylidene fluoride, PVDF) property of not dissolving in acidic solution and disturbing the filtration process after leaching [27].…”

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Merging Recycling Methods for Spent Lithium Ion Batteries

“…Therefore, to solve the problem of excessive leachant consumption, the separation of cathode and anode materials before hydrometallurgical processes is highly recommended. However, it is still rather challenging to achieve a complete separation of anode and cathode materials in an industrial scale [22,54]. Fortunately, He et al demonstrated that the effective separation between anode and cathode materials can be achieved by Fenton assisted flotation.…”