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Cathode Active Material Recycling from Spent Lithium Batteries: A Green (Circular) Approach Based on Deep Eutectic Solvents
Author(s) -
Morina Riccardo,
Callegari Daniele,
Merli Daniele,
Alberti Giancarla,
Mustarelli Piercarlo,
Quartarone Eliana
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.202102080
Subject(s) - leaching (pedology) , eutectic system , cathode , raw material , choline chloride , reuse , materials science , green chemistry , yield (engineering) , electrolyte , chemical engineering , catalysis , waste management , metallurgy , chemistry , organic chemistry , alloy , environmental science , ionic liquid , electrode , soil science , engineering , soil water
The transition to a circular economy vision must handle the increasing request of metals required to satisfy the battery industry; this can be obtained by recycling and feeding back secondary raw materials recovered through proper waste management. Here, a novel and green proof‐of‐concept was developed, based on deep eutectic solvents (DESs) to fully and easily recover valuable metals from various cathode active materials, including LiMn 2 O 4 , LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 , and LiNi 0.8 Co 0.2 O 2 . DES composed of choline chloride and lactic acid could leach Li, Mn, Co, and Ni, achieving efficiency of 100 % under much milder conditions with respect to the previous literature. For the first time, to our best knowledge, a two‐step approach was reported in the case of LiNi 0.8 Co 0.2 O 2 for selective recovery of Li, Co, and Ni with high yield and purity. Furthermore, other cathode components, namely aluminum current collector and binder, were found to be not dissolved by the proposed DES, thus making a simple separation from the active material possible. Finally, this strategy was designed to easily regenerate and reuse the leaching solvents for more than one extraction, thus further boosting process sustainability.