Enhanced gravity separation of black mass from spent LFP batteries

Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have emerged as the pivotal technology in energy storage, crucial for the effective utilization of renewable energy sources. The increasing adoption of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry in electric vehicle (EV) batteries is expected to result in a higher volume of end-of-life (EOL) batteries. This development necessitates advancements in LIB recycling, which has traditionally focused on lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) and lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) batteries due to their high-value raw materials. Given the lower raw material value in LFP batteries, innovative recycling methods, such as direct recycling, must be explored. Enhanced gravity concentration was applied to LFP black mass to separate the cathode active material from other components, including the anode material. Experiments using the Falcon gravity concentrator demonstrated that the cathode material could be concentrated into the heavy fraction with an enrichment ratio at best of over 1.5. The addition of chemical reagents did not significantly impact the gravity concentration, although some effects were observed in the shaking pre-tests. Further research is required to enhance the purity of the heavy fraction to make it suitable for direct recycling.