Recovery of Co-rich metal alloy from end-of-life Li-ion batteries

Abstract

The end-of-life Li-ion batteries (LIBs) contain various metal values such as lithium (Li), cobalt (Co), aluminium (Al), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), and manganese (Mn) wherein the major value chain is found as Co, Li and Ni contents. The recovery of Co-rich metal alloy from the discarded LIBs using smelting at high temperature is investigated in this study. The black mass is obtained after safe discharging and manual dismantling of the discarded LIBs. The recovery of Co-rich metal alloy from the calcined black mass was examined at temperature range of 1400–1500 °C with addition of combination of flux. The smelting experiments of the calcined black mass were found adequate at 1450 °C with soaking period of 2 h. Subsequently, the cobalt (Co) rich metal alloy is separated from slag after solidification. The flux composition MnO2-SiO2-Al2O3 found suitable for complete smelting of calcined LIB black mass and as a result yield an effective recovery of Co-rich alloy. The recovered Co-rich alloy comprises of Co-Mn-Ni-Cu with elemental composition of 65.8 wt% Co, 7.8 wt% Mn, 6.7 wt% Ni and 3.2 wt% Cu. The recovered Co-rich metal alloy can be used to enhance the ultra-high strength and as a master alloy application.