Low-Temperature Molten-Salt-Assisted Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

Ersha Fan; Li Li; Jiao Lin; Jiawei Wu; Jingbo Yang; Feng Wu; Renjie Chen

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03054

Low-Temperature Molten-Salt-Assisted Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

Ersha Fan
, Li Li
, Jiao Lin
, Jiawei Wu
, Jingbo Yang
, Feng Wu
, Renjie Chen^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Material Science and Engineering

Beijing Institute of Technology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

207 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A novel and environmentally friendly process for utilizing spent lithium-ion batteries based on salt roasting is proposed. The separated cathode material is roasted with NH₄Cl as a fluxing agent. During this process, Li and Co are converted to chlorides due to the release of HCl and NH₃ from the reaction of NH₄Cl, with LiCoO₂. These chloride salts are readily soluble in water. The reaction parameters, including roasting temperature, time, and LiCoO₂/NH₄Cl mass ratio, were investigated in detail. The results showed that more than 99% Co and Li were recovered under optimum conditions: temperature of 350 °C, reaction time of 20 min, and a LiCoO₂/NH₄Cl mass ratio of 1:2. A possible reaction mechanism between LiCoO₂ and NH₄Cl is proposed based on thermodynamic, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The treatment of other spent lithium-ion battery cathode materials, such as LiMn₂O₄ and LiCo_1/3Mn_1/3Ni_1/3O₂, verified the effectiveness of the method for recovering the valuable metals.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	16144-16150
Number of pages	7
Journal	ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Volume	7
Issue number	19
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03054
Publication status	Published - 7 Oct 2019

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Keywords

Chlorination roasting
Fluxing agent
NHCl
Spent lithium-ion batteries
Water leaching

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10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03054

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@article{e5ec782e62254c3fb77445478b5b35bc,

title = "Low-Temperature Molten-Salt-Assisted Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries",

abstract = "A novel and environmentally friendly process for utilizing spent lithium-ion batteries based on salt roasting is proposed. The separated cathode material is roasted with NH4Cl as a fluxing agent. During this process, Li and Co are converted to chlorides due to the release of HCl and NH3 from the reaction of NH4Cl, with LiCoO2. These chloride salts are readily soluble in water. The reaction parameters, including roasting temperature, time, and LiCoO2/NH4Cl mass ratio, were investigated in detail. The results showed that more than 99\% Co and Li were recovered under optimum conditions: temperature of 350 °C, reaction time of 20 min, and a LiCoO2/NH4Cl mass ratio of 1:2. A possible reaction mechanism between LiCoO2 and NH4Cl is proposed based on thermodynamic, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The treatment of other spent lithium-ion battery cathode materials, such as LiMn2O4 and LiCo1/3Mn1/3Ni1/3O2, verified the effectiveness of the method for recovering the valuable metals.",

keywords = "Chlorination roasting, Fluxing agent, NHCl, Spent lithium-ion batteries, Water leaching",

author = "Ersha Fan and Li Li and Jiao Lin and Jiawei Wu and Jingbo Yang and Feng Wu and Renjie Chen",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2019 American Chemical Society.",

year = "2019",

month = oct,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03054",

language = "English",

volume = "7",

pages = "16144--16150",

journal = "ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering",

issn = "2168-0485",

publisher = "American Chemical Society",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Low-Temperature Molten-Salt-Assisted Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

AU - Fan, Ersha

AU - Li, Li

AU - Lin, Jiao

AU - Wu, Jiawei

AU - Yang, Jingbo

AU - Wu, Feng

AU - Chen, Renjie

PY - 2019/10/7

Y1 - 2019/10/7

N2 - A novel and environmentally friendly process for utilizing spent lithium-ion batteries based on salt roasting is proposed. The separated cathode material is roasted with NH4Cl as a fluxing agent. During this process, Li and Co are converted to chlorides due to the release of HCl and NH3 from the reaction of NH4Cl, with LiCoO2. These chloride salts are readily soluble in water. The reaction parameters, including roasting temperature, time, and LiCoO2/NH4Cl mass ratio, were investigated in detail. The results showed that more than 99% Co and Li were recovered under optimum conditions: temperature of 350 °C, reaction time of 20 min, and a LiCoO2/NH4Cl mass ratio of 1:2. A possible reaction mechanism between LiCoO2 and NH4Cl is proposed based on thermodynamic, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The treatment of other spent lithium-ion battery cathode materials, such as LiMn2O4 and LiCo1/3Mn1/3Ni1/3O2, verified the effectiveness of the method for recovering the valuable metals.

AB - A novel and environmentally friendly process for utilizing spent lithium-ion batteries based on salt roasting is proposed. The separated cathode material is roasted with NH4Cl as a fluxing agent. During this process, Li and Co are converted to chlorides due to the release of HCl and NH3 from the reaction of NH4Cl, with LiCoO2. These chloride salts are readily soluble in water. The reaction parameters, including roasting temperature, time, and LiCoO2/NH4Cl mass ratio, were investigated in detail. The results showed that more than 99% Co and Li were recovered under optimum conditions: temperature of 350 °C, reaction time of 20 min, and a LiCoO2/NH4Cl mass ratio of 1:2. A possible reaction mechanism between LiCoO2 and NH4Cl is proposed based on thermodynamic, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The treatment of other spent lithium-ion battery cathode materials, such as LiMn2O4 and LiCo1/3Mn1/3Ni1/3O2, verified the effectiveness of the method for recovering the valuable metals.

KW - Chlorination roasting

KW - Fluxing agent

KW - NHCl

KW - Spent lithium-ion batteries

KW - Water leaching

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85072636046

U2 - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03054

DO - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03054

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85072636046

SN - 2168-0485

VL - 7

SP - 16144

EP - 16150

JO - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering

JF - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering

IS - 19

ER -

Low-Temperature Molten-Salt-Assisted Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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