Synergistic Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries and Lithium-Ion Batteries

Fupeng Liu; Chao Peng; Antti Porvali; Zulin Wang; Benjamin P. Wilson; Mari Lundström

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b02863

Synergistic Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries and Lithium-Ion Batteries

Fupeng Liu, Chao Peng, Antti Porvali, Zulin Wang, Benjamin P. Wilson, Mari Lundström^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Not published at VTT

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

78 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This research presents a sustainable approach for the simultaneous recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMHs). First, dissolution of LIBs and NiMHs were found to be mutually co-promoted, resulting in above 98% extraction of Li, Co, Ni, and rare-earth elements (REEs) without the need for any oxidant or reductant additions. After leaching, >97% of REEs were recovered as a REEs-alkali double sulfate precipitate with the addition of NaOH and Na₂SO₄ precipitants. This REEs-free solution was then further processed to separate and recover the battery metals present: Mn, Co, Ni, and Li. The resultant residual solution (rich in NaOH and Na₂SO₄) was redirected to the REEs precipitation step, decreasing both the need of precipitants (e.g., Na₂SO₄) as well as the costs related to the treatment of the high-Na waste solution. Moreover, the Li remaining in the waste solution can be circulated back into the main process, resulting in an exceptionally high Li recovery of >93% in the form of high-purity Li₃PO₄ (99.95%). This is a marked improvement over the previously reported Li recovery levels of 60-80%. Overall, this newly developed process has considerable environmental and economic advantages for the recovery of valuable metals from mixed LIBs and NiMHs wastes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	16103-16111
Number of pages	9
Journal	ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Volume	7
Issue number	19
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b02863
Publication status	Published - 7 Oct 2019
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This paper has been financially supported by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland (Closeloop project, Grant Number 303454). The authors also acknowledge the collaboration with Business Finland supported projects (CMEco and BATCircle, Grant Numbers 7405/31/2016 and 4853/31/2018), and the Academy of Finland’s RawMatTERS Finland Infrastructure (RAMI) based at Aalto University. The authors also acknowledge the financial support from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 51804141) as well as the Science and Technology Project of the Education Department of Jiangxi Province (GJJ170533). Special thanks also go to AkkuSer Ltd. for providing the spent battery waste used in this study.

Keywords

Lithium
Metals circular economy
Rare-earth elements
Sustainable recycling
Synergistic leaching

UN SDGs

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

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10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b02863

Cite this

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title = "Synergistic Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries and Lithium-Ion Batteries",

abstract = "This research presents a sustainable approach for the simultaneous recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMHs). First, dissolution of LIBs and NiMHs were found to be mutually co-promoted, resulting in above 98\% extraction of Li, Co, Ni, and rare-earth elements (REEs) without the need for any oxidant or reductant additions. After leaching, >97\% of REEs were recovered as a REEs-alkali double sulfate precipitate with the addition of NaOH and Na2SO4 precipitants. This REEs-free solution was then further processed to separate and recover the battery metals present: Mn, Co, Ni, and Li. The resultant residual solution (rich in NaOH and Na2SO4) was redirected to the REEs precipitation step, decreasing both the need of precipitants (e.g., Na2SO4) as well as the costs related to the treatment of the high-Na waste solution. Moreover, the Li remaining in the waste solution can be circulated back into the main process, resulting in an exceptionally high Li recovery of >93\% in the form of high-purity Li3PO4 (99.95\%). This is a marked improvement over the previously reported Li recovery levels of 60-80\%. Overall, this newly developed process has considerable environmental and economic advantages for the recovery of valuable metals from mixed LIBs and NiMHs wastes.",

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AB - This research presents a sustainable approach for the simultaneous recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMHs). First, dissolution of LIBs and NiMHs were found to be mutually co-promoted, resulting in above 98% extraction of Li, Co, Ni, and rare-earth elements (REEs) without the need for any oxidant or reductant additions. After leaching, >97% of REEs were recovered as a REEs-alkali double sulfate precipitate with the addition of NaOH and Na2SO4 precipitants. This REEs-free solution was then further processed to separate and recover the battery metals present: Mn, Co, Ni, and Li. The resultant residual solution (rich in NaOH and Na2SO4) was redirected to the REEs precipitation step, decreasing both the need of precipitants (e.g., Na2SO4) as well as the costs related to the treatment of the high-Na waste solution. Moreover, the Li remaining in the waste solution can be circulated back into the main process, resulting in an exceptionally high Li recovery of >93% in the form of high-purity Li3PO4 (99.95%). This is a marked improvement over the previously reported Li recovery levels of 60-80%. Overall, this newly developed process has considerable environmental and economic advantages for the recovery of valuable metals from mixed LIBs and NiMHs wastes.

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Synergistic Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries and Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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