Selective Extraction of Critical Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

Selective and highly efficient extraction technologies for the recovery of critical metals including lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese from spent lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathode materials are essential in driving circularity. The tailored deep eutectic solvent (DES) choline chloride–formic ac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2023-03, Vol.57 (9), p.3940-3950
Main Authors: Wang, Mengmeng, Liu, Kang, Xu, Zibo, Dutta, Shanta, Valix, Marjorie, Alessi, Daniel S., Huang, Longbin, Zimmerman, Julie B., Tsang, Daniel C. W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Batteries
Cathodes
Choline
Cobalt
Comminution
Electric Power Supplies
Electrode materials
Energy storage
Formic acid
Grain refinement
Heavy metals
Internal energy
Iron
Iron phosphates
Leaching
Lithium
Lithium-ion batteries
Manganese
Materials recovery
Metals
Nickel
Phosphorus
Rechargeable batteries
Recycling
Selectivity
Strategic materials
Treatment and Resource Recovery
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Summary:Selective and highly efficient extraction technologies for the recovery of critical metals including lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese from spent lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathode materials are essential in driving circularity. The tailored deep eutectic solvent (DES) choline chloride–formic acid (ChCl–FA) demonstrated a high selectivity and efficiency in extracting critical metals from mixed cathode materials (LiFePO4:Li­(NiCoMn)1/3O2 mass ratio of 1:1) under mild conditions (80 °C, 120 min) with a solid–liquid mass ratio of 1:200. The leaching performance of critical metals could be further enhanced by mechanochemical processing because of particle size reduction, grain refinement, and internal energy storage. Furthermore, mechanochemical reactions effectively inhibited undesirable leaching of nontarget elements (iron and phosphorus), thus promoting the selectivity and leaching efficiency of critical metals. This was achieved through the preoxidation of Fe and the enhanced stability of iron phosphate framework, which significantly increased the separation factor of critical metals to nontarget elements from 56.9 to 1475. The proposed combination of ChCl–FA extraction and the mechanochemical reaction can achieve a highly selective extraction of critical metals from multisource spent LIBs under mild conditions.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.2c07689