Recycling Valuable Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Carbothermal Shock Method.

Abstract

Pyrometallurgy technique is usually applied as a pretreatment to enhance the leaching efficiencies in the hydrometallurgy process for recovering valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries. However, traditional pyrometallurgy processes are energy and time consuming. Here, we report a carbothermal shock (CTS) method for reducing LiNi0.3 Co0.2 Mn0.5 O2 (NCM325) cathode materials with uniform temperature distribution, high heating and cooling rates, high temperatures, and ultrafast reaction times. Li can be selectively leached through water leaching after CTS process with an efficiency of >90 %. Ni, Co, and Mn are recovered by dilute acid leaching with efficiencies >98 %. The CTS reduction strategy is feasible for various spent cathode materials, including NCM111, NCM523, NCM622, NCM811, LiCoO2 , and LiMn2 O4 . The CTS process, with its low energy consumption and potential scale application, provides an efficient and environmentally friendly way for recovering spent lithium-ion batteries.