Open AccessInfluence of alkaline pre-treatment on acid dissolution of cathode material of 18650 lithium battery
Author(s) -
Dessy Amalia,
Pritam Singh,
Wensheng Zhang,
Aleksandar N. Nikoloski
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/882/1/012001
Subject(s) - leaching (pedology) , manganese , dissolution , alkaline battery , cathode , nickel , cobalt , inorganic chemistry , aluminium , materials science , metallurgy , lithium (medication) , copper , chemistry , nuclear chemistry , electrode , electrolyte , soil water , endocrinology , medicine , environmental science , soil science
Lithium battery cathodes contain lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Recycling of spent lithium batteries aims to recover these elements for re-use. Liberation of cathode materials from other metals in the battery such as aluminium, copper, and iron, is essential to obtain a good leaching efficiency in the recovery of valuable metals from end-of-life lithium batteries. This study investigates the behaviour of cathode materials and other metals in spent 18650 lithium batteries during leaching in H 2 SO 4 solution with and without NaOH pre-treatment. Dissolution of aluminium using NaOH is a selective method to separate the metal from other elements. The influence of a 2-hour NaOH pre-treatment on subsequent acid leaching of cathode materials was investigated at both room temperature and 80°C. The extraction of aluminium increased to 75% at a higher temperature. Lithium concentration in the pregnant leach solution from acid leaching also increases with NaOH pre-treatment. The pre-treatment had a negligible effect on nickel, manganese, iron, and copper extraction. However, the cobalt extraction with NaOH pre-treatment was significantly lower. The result was likely due to indirect impact of less hydrogen gas was generated from a lower Al amount. The lattice structure of the leach residue for the sample with NaOH pre-treatment was monoclinic rather than rhombohedral due to stronger delithiation.