Title: Co recovery from spent Li-ion battery by acid leaching - a comparative study

Authors: M.Z.H. Khan; Md. Iftekharul Alam; Most. Sheauly Khatun; Md. Rafiul Hasan; Md. Rashid Al-Mamun; Md. Faridul Islam; Mala Khan; Sumiya Aktar; S. Akther; K. Fatema

Addresses: Department of Chemical Engineering, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Jessore 7408, Bangladesh ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Jessore 7408, Bangladesh ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Jessore 7408, Bangladesh ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Jessore 7408, Bangladesh ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Jessore 7408, Bangladesh ' IFST, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh ' DRiCM, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh ' DRiCM, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh ' DRiCM, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh ' DRiCM, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract: We investigated and compared leaching processes with different acids for the recovery of cobalt from the cathode active materials of spent lithium-ion batteries. The active substances separated from the cathode of spent lithium-ion batteries were dissolved in each acid solutions, and precipitated as CoC₂O₄•2H₂O. The structural morphology of the cathode materials before and after leaching were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The amount of Co present in the leachate was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). The experimental study shows that 93% of Co (mass fraction) can be dissolved in the solution of 1.5 M HCl, 2.0% H₂O₂ (volume fraction), and S:L of 20 g/L⁻¹ results the highest efficient recovery within 60 min at 90°C comparing other acids in this study.

Keywords: used batteries Li-ion batteries; lithium-ion batteries; metal recovery; acid leaching; spent batteries; cobalt recovery; morphology; cathode materials.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2016.078593

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2016 Vol.17 No.3/4, pp.203 - 215

Received: 29 Oct 2015
Accepted: 24 Mar 2016
Published online: 25 Aug 2016 *

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