Synergistic effect of ultrasonication and sulfate radical on recovering cobalt and lithium from the spent lithium-ion battery

Abstract

Ultrasonication has been mechanically applied widely in the recycling of spent lithium-ion (SLI) batteries while its influence on chemical pathways has barely been reported. In this study, ultrasonication and sulfate radicals were used in a coupling system to obtain efficient recoveries of Co and Li from SLI batteries. The synergistic effect of ultrasonication and sulfate radicals on recycling was quantitatively analysed by significance analysis and surface responses in a central composite design. The employment of persulfate significantly affected the whole recycling process during the sonication. Factors including acoustic time, operating powers, and temperature all had a significant effect on the recoveries of Co and Li. The maximum recovery efficiencies of Co and Li of 97.33% and 99.25%, respectively, and the minimum loss rate of Al of 4.13% were simultaneously obtained by the fitting predictor. The optimal combination of factors for the sonication system included an acoustic time (min) of 5.5, an operating power (W) of 168, a temperature (°C) of 86, and a ratio of cathode foil to S-solution (mg/mL) of 1:60. A moiety of cathode active material was directly separated from the aluminium collector by sulfate radical-related reactions. Co and Li cations dissolved from LiCoO2 by carbon dioxide radicals were reprecipitated by excess oxalate. The research demonstrated the positively synergistic influence caused by ultrasonication and sulfate radicals on achieving efficient recoveries of Co and Li from SLI batteries, explicitly expanding the technical choices for the recycling procedure.